Hope Springs Eternal
by starlily16
Summary: Nowadays, when the living can be just as dangerous as the dead, Bella Penn navigated on her own until a familiar face convinces her to join a group. Will she be able to reconcile old ghosts with the strange and dangerous new world? (better than the description; I promise. Also, starting season 1 and going on from there. Eventually will be slash but who with is a secret for now...)
1. Guts

_Hope springs eternal in the human breast;  
_ _Man never is, but always to be blessed:  
_ _The soul, uneasy and confined from home  
_ _Rests and expatiates in a life to come._

Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man

* * *

"Shit!" Bella dropped to the floor behind the display case as soon as she heard the footsteps. _They don't sound so slow._ She thought, holding out hope that the people in the store with her were still alive and kickin'. However, from the experiences that she's had with the livin' after the world as she knew it ended, she wasn't sure if she was safer if they were. _Oh god. What do I do? What do I do?_ Bella couldn't help but think of her dad and her sister. _What would they do?_ Bella peeked out from behind the case again, trying to see who was in the store with her. She squealed as she felt something grab her ankle and pull her backwards. She readied her knife as whoever it was flipped her over onto her back.

"Well, looky who we got here." Bella stared up at the man above her. _At least he's alive,_ Bella thought, although it wasn't as comforting as she would've hoped. She lunged forward with her knife, trying to swipe at her assailant.

"Uh uh uh. Nice try, sweetheart. Why don't I just move this out of the way for ya?" The man above her grabbed her knife hand and forced it above her head, holding her wrist in place. He straddled her waist so that he was even closer to her body. He leaned down to get in her face. She felt his harsh breath on her as he said, "Now, what's a sweet thing like you doin' out here all by her lonesome?" He sat up a bit more, leering down at Bella. She started to squirm underneath the weight of his stare, not to mention his actual weight.

"Please, I don't want any trouble. Just let me go and I won't bother you again." She tried to reason with the man, but something about him made her think that it was a lost cause. He leaned down again to whisper in her ear, "Maybe I want you to bother me. Come on, why don't me go somewhere isolated and-"

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Dixon?" Bella looked up at the interruption to see a blonde girl and a man in a cop uniform.

"Just havin' some fun. Found this fine piece of ass hidin' away back here and I figured I should suss out the situation, see if we found ourselves an interloper or what not."

The blonde woman looked at him with a scowl. She looked down at the young girl trapped beneath Merle Dixon, and her eyes softened at the fear she saw reflected back at her.

"Get off of her." The man behind the blonde called. Bella's brows scrunched up in confusion. She recognized that voice but she couldn't see who it was.

The man called Merle looked up at the man, anger in his tone. "And who the hell are you?"

"Officer Friendly. Now get off of her. I'm not going to ask you again."

Merle looked between the girl beneath her and the stranger who dared to threaten him. "And just what are you gonna do about it?"

The cop grabbed him suddenly by the vest and threw him off of the girl. He then stretched a hand out to her and pulled her up. Bella's eyes glistened as she finally recognized the man before her.

"Ricky?" He looked taken aback. _No one calls me that,_ Rick thought. _Well, except for…_ "Katie?"

Bella's face grew brighter as she smiled and jumped into Rick's arms. "Oh my god. Ricky! I never thought I would see you again!" Rick wrapped his arms around the girl in front of him, holding her tightly to his chest as his eyes started to water slightly. If he and Katie could find each other in this crazy world, then he could find Lori and Carl again too.

"What are you doing here Katie?" Rick looked down at the girl, still in his arms. She smiled and said, "I was looking for more supplies. I was running low on clothes and hoping to find some sort of weapon." Rick chuckled. "No, I meant what are you doing in Georgia? Last I heard, you were kickin' ass and taking names in DC."

The light in Bella's eyes dimmed a bit. She stepped back out of his arms, and he reluctantly let her. "Just before the world went to hell, daddy had another heart attack. This one was worse than the others and Hannah was worried that he wouldn't come back from it as well as the last one. I came back home to see him and help as best I could. As soon as I landed, they closed the airports and then everything fell apart. By the time I made it to the hospital, it was overrun by biters. I couldn't get anywhere near it." At this point, Bella had started to cry, silent tears streaming down her cheeks. "I don't know if my daddy's ok or if Hannah made it out. I've been on my own since I got here."

A young Asian boy spoke up from behind the blonde. "You've lived in Atlanta this whole time?" He seemed genuinely shocked and a bit impressed.

Bella squared her shoulders, wiped her tears and shrugged. "For the most part, yeah."

The blonde spoke up then. "You must be one hell of a survivor." She stuck out her hand to Bella and said, "I'm Andrea. And that there is Glenn." Andrea introduced Bella to everyone else before turning back to Bella. "So, Katie right?"

Bella smiled. "Actually, it's Bella now." Andrea nodded her head, ready to say more when they heard gunshots up above. She turned around frantically before shouting, "Is that Dixon?"

Everyone ran upstairs. No one had realized he left the group until they heard the gunshots. They opened the door to find Merle Dixon shooting from the top of the building.

Morales arrived first and yelled, "Hey Dixon, are you crazy?"

Merle turned back around to the group, gun cocked on his hip. "Hey, you oughtta be more polite to a man with a gun, huh? It's common sense."

T-Dog stepped forward, "Man, you are wastin bullets we don't even got. And you're bringin the walkers down on our ass, man just chill!"

Merle snarled. "Hey, its bad enough I got this taco vendor on my ass all day and now I'm gonna take orders from you? I don't think so bro. That'll be the day."

T-Dog didn't back down. "That'll be the day. You got something you wanna tell me?" Morales tried to calm him down but T-dog was not having it.

Merle responded, "You wanna know the day? I'll tell you the day Mr. Yo, is the day I take orders from a nigger."

Bella watched the fight unfold, somewhat shocked that someone could still think like that despite everything that has happened in this world. She was willing to watch it play out on the sidelines until Rick got himself knocked senseless. Then she knew she couldn't sit back any longer. She waited until there was a lull in the fighting when Merle pushed a gun into T-Dog's face. He seemed to think he was the leader now. Facing the main part of the group, he asked "Well, anybody else?" Bella spoke up from behind him. "Yeah." As he turned, she hit him in the face with the butt of her gun, and Rick was waiting there to drag him over to the pipe and cuff him.

She then shoved the gun into his face and said, "Look here Merle, things are different now. There are no niggers anymore, no dumb as shit inbred white trash fools either, only dark meat and white meat. There's us and the dead. We survive this by pulling together, not apart."

Merle looked up into her face. "How I'd love to screw you, sugar tits." Rick leaned forward then and punched him in the face. "You better watch your mouth, Dixon."

Merle eyed him up and down before saying, "You know, in polite society, you share what you got with everyone." He leered over at Bella even though her gun was still pointed straight at him. Bella responded by kneeling down to Merle, sticking her gun underneath his chin and saying, "Yeah, well. In polite society, rapists could get the death penalty. I'd say, you're getting off easy."

Merle snarled, "I didn't rape nobody."

Bella sneered, "Oh and you were just layin on top of me downstairs for my health, right?"

Rick stood back up. "Leave it alone." Bella sighed and stormed off to the edge of the roof. Rick followed while Merle yelled out, "Hey, if I get loose, you better pray. God, you hear me whore? You hear me?" Bella was just about to storm back over when she felt a hand on her arm. She found Rick by her side, sporting a large frown. "Don't. He's not worth the effort." Bella shrugged his arm off but stayed where she was.

Rick stood next to her silent for a moment before saying with a small smirk, "So, Bella, huh?" Bella turned to face him. "Yeah. I just figured: new world, new name, new me." Rick nodded in understanding. Bella frowned slightly. "Do you know anything about Lori or Carl?" He turned to face back out. "No, but you gotta keep hoping right?" Bella could tell that Rick didn't want to talk about it, but she needed to ask. "What about Shane?"

Rick turned to face her again, slightly confused that she seemed more anxious to hear this answer. "I don't know. Last I remember about him was right after I was shot." Bella gasped. "You were shot?" Rick smirked slightly. "Yeah, it's a long story. I'll tell you later." Bella nodded before the both of them turned back to the group.

"How's that signal?" T-Dog shrugged. "Just like Dixon's brain. Weak." Bella snorted, trying to hold back her laughter. She stopped after receiving a look from Rick and a dirty glare from Merle.

As the conversation kept going, Bella felt Merle's eyes still on her. She turned back to face him. "What?"

Merle smiled slightly. "I think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot, sugar tits. How about you get me out of these cuffs then we go off somewhere and bump some uglies?" Bella's face contorted with disgust. She was about to respond when she felt an arm snake its way around her waist, pulling her close. She looked up surprised into Rick's face as he stared daggers at Merle. "Watch your mouth Dixon. I'm not going to tell you again." Merle sighed, currently defeated and looked away.

Bella joined back in on the conversation as they were trying to find a way out of this. "What about under the streets? Like the sewers." Glenn checked for any manhole covers before Jacqui spoke up, saying there should be an access point in the basement since it was a rather old building. The group headed down to check it out. Bella hesitated though. Rick turned back, a bit confused before she said, "I think I'll stay here, keep a look out just in case. T-Dog can barely move and Merle's chained up. Someone should be here just in case." Rick gave her a meaningful look before he left, full of something that Bella couldn't quite place, but it made her cheeks warm nonetheless.

She walked over to T-Dog and sat down beside him, gun pointed not-so-subtly towards Merle. He looked over at her and asked, "So you and officer friendly. You knew each other before all this?"

Bella smiled. "Yeah. I've known him for years."

T-Dog shifted awkwardly for a moment before asking, "Were you guys together before this happened?" Bella started laughing, somewhat hysterically. "What? No, no Ricky and I weren't together."

"Oh, uh, you both just seemed really relieved to see each other and he's really protective of you."

"My daddy used to work in the sheriff's department with Ricky and his partner. I would hang around all the time, and eventually, struck up a friendship with officer friendly and his partner. I used to babysit his kid for him too. They were like the brothers I never had."

T-Dog looked over at her, trying to analyze her in a way. "How old are you anyway?"

Bella looked away and said, "I'm 26. But honestly, I feel like I'm 40 with all the crazy shit that's been happening."

Merle seemed about to throw in his two cents when the rest of the group came back. The sewers didn't pan out, but Rick came up with a crazy scheme, so bullheaded and stupid that Bella thought that it just might work.


	2. Tell it to the Frogs (pt 1)

A/N Hi everybody! I realized that I never introduced myself on the first chapter so i figured I should start that now. (I also made the mistake of posting the first chapter really late so I hope people do actually see this.) My name is Sarah and I've been a walking dead fan since I first started watching it on netflix. Not having AMC for awhile and then not having an immediate streaming site meant that I am always one step behind the series, but I know everything where it counts and I'm rewatching every episode to write this story. This is only my second story, so be kind, but please give me any and all feedback you think is relevant of necessary. And if you think the chapters are too long, please let me know as well and I can figure out a way to trim them or cut the episodes even further. Most episodes will be split into at least two chapters, but it depends on how important the episode is to my OC.

My OC is described more fully in this chapter, and she keep becoming a fuller character with each passing chapter. I'm purposefully giving identifying details, but nothing too intense. I want everyone to be able to picture her in their own way. I never like when they are either so detailed, you have to constantly pay attention and remember it, or when an author gives an actor that they picture. I like seeing everything play out in my head and that means having a solid amount of control over how I see the new characters. Anyways, I really hope people will see this story cause I really like, but I'm going to keep writing and posting anyway because its fun.

Thanks to anyone who finds this and reads this!  
Hugs and Kisses. Sarah

* * *

They all sat shivering in the back of the truck, simultaneously shocked that the plan had actually worked and shaken by the close call on the loading dock. Rick and Morales sat up front, but everyone else looked around at each other, still too afraid to do anything except stare at each other. T-Dog broke the silence. "I dropped the damn key." Everyone looked around, not sure how to respond. Merle was a redneck jackass sonofabitch, but no one deserves that. They all knew it was an accident though, so no one pressed it. Andrea looked around, surveying the group in the back of the truck. "Where's Glenn?"

Rick replied, "We needed a distraction to get everyone out of there. We'll meet him back at camp." Andrea didn't quite seem satisfied with that answer but she dropped it anyway. The group sat silently then, wet and cold. Rick kept looking back at the group, or at least that's what he told himself. He was truly looking back at Bella, who was sitting against the side of the truck behind him. He still couldn't believe he found her. He never thought he would see anyone from his past again. As much as he had wanted to keep up hope, it didn't seem possible until he found her. He stole glances out of the rear view mirror. Bella's light brown hair was pulled up into a short pony tail while she had to constantly shift her head to keep her bangs out of her eyes. She was fairly tall, standing just a bit below his forehead which made her about 5'7". Rick couldn't help but notice how her tank top and jeans seemed to hug every curve just right and he was a bit surprised that she still looked somewhat healthy. She had always been beautiful, it would take an idiot not to notice. Rick had always thought so at least, and he knew Shane did to. Rick smiled slightly at the memory of when they first met.

 _He and Shane had just come off their shift and were getting ready to head out. They just had to finish up some paper work, and then they were gonna go hit the bar and play some pool with a couple of cold ones. When they reached their desks, both of them froze at the sight of a beautiful young woman sitting on top of Rick's desk with her feet on Shane's chair. She seemed to be waiting, for what Rick didn't know, but she kept looking at her watch in slight irritation. Shane leaned a little over to Rick and whispered in his ear with a smirk, "Dibs." Rick grumbled in irritation before walking over to the woman. "Excuse me, miss. Is there something I can help you with?" She looked up at him, startled out of whatever trance she had been in before. Rick was mesmerized by her brown eyes, seeing flecs of green and gold as well that made them sparkle brighter than any he had seen. Then, he thought of Lori and felt guilty for checking this girl out. "Sorry. Is this your desk? I didn't realize. Sorry." She seemed a bit flustered and moved off his desk and stood awkwardly. Shane walked up beside him. "It's quite alright. Everything ok?" She looked at Shane. "Hm? Oh yeah, uh, everything's fine. I was just supposed to meet Officer Penn here for lunch but it's been half an hour and he hasn't checked in. I'm getting a bit irritated now. Y'all don't happen to know where he is, do you?" Rick smiled at her accent, pleased to hear she was local, before he scolded himself again. Shane spoke up, "Officer Penn is off on a call right now. He should be back soon. You're welcome to wait here, with us, if you want." The girl seemed to consider this before answering, "Alright, as long as I'm not bothering you all or keeping you from your work." Shane smiled and said, "Darlin' you could never bother me." Rick rolled his eyes, slightly annoyed that Shane's play boy side came out. When Rick saw her slight blush, he felt jealous that she didn't react to him that way. But he again thought of Lori and calmed down. He was married, after all, and couldn't go around flirting with random girls, no matter how beautiful they were. And damn, was she beautiful. He held his hand out to her and said, "I'm Deputy Rick Grimes and this is my partner Shane Walsh." She grabbed his hand and shook before saying, "I'm Katherine Isabella Penn, but everyone just calls me Katie."_

Rick was shaken out of his flashback when he narrowly avoided hitting a car abandoned on the road. He then forced himself to keep his eyes on the road and away from Bella for the remainder of the trip.

Unbeknownst to him, Bella was looking at Rick just as much as he was looking at her. After she encountered the hospital and saw the state that her old neighborhood had been in, she had little hope for finding other people, let alone someone she knew. As much as it hurt her to admit it, she was glad that Rick was the one she found first, above her sister and her dad as well. She couldn't help but feel guilty about that but considering where they were before the virus swept the area, she had little hope to find them alive and she didn't want to think about finding them any other way. She looked at the man who had been basically her brother for years. When she first met him, she couldn't help but marvel at how handsome the man was. Even now, she could still see the warm, friendly southern gentleman she met all those years ago. The man before her was rougher, though, and scruffier. He had a five o'clock shadow of sorts, but his fair was still fairly short and maintained. Bella admired his muscles as he drove, straining to maintain control of the large vehicle. She appreciated how he managed to keep most of himself from before; she couldn't count the number of times she saw people lose themselves because of all this. Her heart swelled a bit as she thought back to how protective he was of her when Merle harassed her, and even though she knew she could take care of herself, it was nice to know someone was there looking out for her.

Morales told Rick to turn down a side road, little more than dirt, and Bella looked out of the window to see where they were headed. They drove up to a clearing that was full of vehicles and camping equipment. Rick stopped the car and everyone got out, running to their respective families before heading back to grab the equipment. Rick and Bella walked to the back of the truck and started grabbing bags since they didn't have anyone to greet. As they rounded the truck, Bella saw Glenn standing by the car. Morales called out, "Hey helicopter boy, survivor, come say hello." Bella and Rick shared a look, her pleased that she had the better nickname, and they both left the bags where they were to meet the group. They started walking forward while Morales explained who they were. "The guy's a cop, like you, and the girls been living by herself in the city this whole time." Bella and Rick stopped when they saw who Morales was talking to. Shane looked at them in disbelief, not quite sure what to think. Beyond Shane, Bella and Rick saw Lori and Carl the same time they saw them. Carl ran out to them, "Dad!" He ran and jumped into his arms, Rick doubling over out of relief. He walked over to Lori and enveloped her in his embrace as well. Bella stood off to the side, tears building in her eyes at their reunion. She didn't notice Shane looking at her until she met his eyes. "Katie?" Hearing his voice finally made it real as she ran towards him and jumped into his arms, causing him to drop the gun he was holding onto the ground. "Katie, is it really you? Tell me it is. Please, tell me it's you." Bella's tears finally broke through as she laughed slightly and replied, her voice wavering, "Yes, Shane. It's me. It's really me. I can't believe I found you. I thought I would never see you again." Shane wrapped her up in another hug, not willing to let go of her just yet. She didn't notice the look that Lori and Shane exchanged as they hugged their respective people. Both groups broke away and looked at each other. Rick walked up to Shane and gave him a hug, thanking him for keeping his family safe.

Carl looked at Bella then, his eyes widened further when he recognized her. "Bells?" Bella smiled widely at his old nickname for her and rushed to wrap him in a hug too as Lori looked on, a little less pleased by her appearance, but happy still nonetheless. Carl said, "I can't believe you're here. With you and dad and Shane and mom and me it's almost like we're a family again." Bella looked into his eyes, moved to tears yet again by the hope she saw shining through. She straitened up and looked at Lori before giving her a hug, albeit a bit one sided. "I'm glad to see you too Lori. I'm so happy you guys are ok." Lori broke away and said a bit strained, "It's nice to see you, Katie." Bella replied, "Its Bella now, but it's really nice to see you too." Shane and Rick had joined their little group again and Shane asked, "What?" Bella looked at him, "Bella. I go by Bella now." Shane seemed puzzled so she shrugged and gave the same answer that she gave to Rick, "New world. New name. New me." Shane seemed satisfied with that answer before wrapping her into yet another hug.

Rick was a bit confused by how relieved Shane was about Bella but he just chocked it up to seeing another friendly face from the past. She and Shane were about as close as she and Rick were; she was just as much their sister as they were her brothers. Shane turned to the group and addressed them all, "Everybody. I'd like to welcome my brother Rick Grimes as well as Kat-, er, Bella Penn to the group. I knew them both long before the apocalypse and I can't even begin to describe how much hope this gives me that this world ain't so bad. I want everyone to treat them with as much respect and acceptance as anyone else in this group. Do I make myself clear?" Everyone nodded in agreement, clearly willing to accept these two for everything they've done for them, and for how much they clearly mean to Shane, Lori, and Carl.

Everyone pitched in to help unpack the truck. Once that was done, Rick went with Lori and Carl to get settled a bit into what was now their family tent. Bella stood around a bit awkwardly, not sure where she was going to stay. An older man came up and said, "Hi, I'm Dale. I wanted to introduce myself properly and welcome you to the group." Bella smiled warmly at the kind man. "Thank you." He asked, "Are you settling in alright?"

"Just about," Bella replied. "I'm not sure where to sleep though. I have my own sleeping bag, but I don't have a tent."

"Well, you're welcome to stay in the RV with me, Andrea, and Amy. It might be a bit cramped but we can make it work." Bella looked torn. "Are you sure? I wouldn't want to put anyone out." Just then, Shane walked up. Bella and Dale looked at him expectantly, and he started to shift a bit awkwardly. Bella looked to Dale and he seemed to understand, "I'll go check on the supplies, see what you all managed to bring back." Bella nodded at Dale with a smile before turning back to Shane, waiting for him to say what he wanted to. "I, um, was thinking, since you don't have a tent or place to sleep, if you wanted to, maybe, share my tent with me. It's pretty big, and I take watch a lot so I'm hardly ever in there. I just figured it would be nice to be around someone you know, and lord knows, I'm happy to see you again and…" Bella interrupted Shane with a bright smile. "I'd love to. Thanks, Shane." He sighed in relief and led her over to his tent. She settled in and then everybody sat around the fire for a nice dinner. Shane sat in a chair, and seeing that everybody else seemed to have a spot already, even Rick, who was cuddling up with his family, Bella sat down between Shane's legs and leaned back. Shane smiled and made sure she was comfortable. The pair gained a few knowing looks from the group, especially Andrea and Amy, but no one said anything. Rick noticed home comfortable Bella and Shane were with each other and couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy again before quickly looking over at Lori and Carl.

Rick told the story about how he woke up from his coma alone in this strange and dangerous new world. His story made Bella shiver slightly with worry and fear. Shane felt her and leaned forward to wrap his arms around her shoulders and she leaned back into his embrace. When Rick was done, Dale looked over at her and asked, "Mind sharing your story as well? We're all a bit curious. Glenn said that you had been living by yourself in Atlanta this whole time." At that, Shane tightened his arms around her a bit more. Rick's eye twitched just a bit, but Bella noticed and shifted slightly, forcing Shane to remove his arms from around her to plant them on her shoulders instead.

She sat up a bit straighter then started, "Before the disease broke out, I had been working in DC for a non-profit advocacy group. I got a call one day from my sister, Hannah, who told me that daddy had had another heart attack and it didn't look like he was going to completely recover from this one. He had been having heart trouble for years; he never seemed to quite figure out how to take care of himself, always so worried about my sister and I since our mama had died a few years earlier. I flew back home as soon as I could, but as soon as I got there, all hell broke loose. I finally made it to the hospital, but it had already been overrun by biters so I had to leave. I made it to Atlanta after hearing about the military presence and refugee center. I was in the city when the military fell, and the refugee center was overrun. I can still hear the screaming sometimes when everything is quiet, and bein alone didn't help much either. I still don't quite know how I survived that long, but I had found an apartment in one of the big luxury buildings on the top floor. The rich had been the first to leave so there wasn't anybody left in the building to turn. I secured it the best I could and holed up in there until I ran out of supplies. I could usually pop in and out to get some, since I could see most of the city from the apartment, but I barely slept so I could only be alert to a certain point. I was on a run when I ran into your group, and after seeing Ricky again and how nice most everyone else was, I figured runnin back with a group of mostly strangers was better than being alone."

During her story, everyone stayed respectfully quiet. Once she was done, she leaned back again and Shane replaced his arms around her. Carl looked between her and Rick before saying, "Mom said you were dead." Rick replied, "She had every reason to think that." Bella noticed the look that Shane and Lori shared. She filed it away as something to ask about later. Lori spoke up, "Like Bella said, when things got really bad, they told me the hospital was gonna medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta. It never happened." Bella spoke up, "I'm not surprised, after Atlanta fell." Rick chimed in, "And from the look of that hospital, they got overrun."

"And looks don't deceive." Bella looked up to watch Shane. "I barely got them out." Rick said, "I can't tell you how grateful I am for that Shane. Can't begin to express it."

Dale spoke up, breaking the tension a bit, "There goes the words fallin short again. Paltry things." The group was interrupted by a large crackling sound a little ways down. Bella looked over at the small family. She hadn't officially met them, but she could tell that the dad, Ed, was bad news. Shane said, "Hey Ed, rethink that log," almost like a question but everyone knew he was telling him to take it out. Ed replied, "Its cold, man."

Bella could fell Shane stiffen a bit before saying, "Cold don't change the rules, does it. Keep our fires low, just embers so we can't be seen from a distance right?"

Ed challenged, "I said its cold. Just mind your own business for once." Shane made to get up so Bella stood up as well and followed behind slightly, to introduce herself properly to the family, but also to make sure the situation didn't get out of control too quickly. "Ed. Sure you wanna have this conversation with me?" Ed gave in. "Go on. Pull the dang thing out. Go on." Bella thought Ed was talking to Shane at first before she saw his wife get up to handle it. Bella bristled at this and moved forward as well, but Shane stuck an arm out to stop her. Shane moved over to step on the flaming log before crouching down. "Hey Carol, Sophia, how are you all this evenin'?"

Carol looked up and said, "Fine." Shane nodded. "Ok." Carol continued, "Sorry about the fire…" Shane interrupted, "No, no, no. No apology needed. Y'all have a good night ok. Appreciate the cooperation." He made to leave before he remembered Bella behind him. "Oh, and this is Bella Penn, the new addition to the group. She wanted to formally meet everyone in camp." Bella stuck her hand out to Ed, who looked at it with disdain before turning away. She turned to Carol and Sophia then and said, "Nice to meet y'all. I'm Bella." She shook Carol's hand. "If y'all ever need any help or anything, all you gotta do is ask." She turned to Sophia and said, "And I do a mean French braid if you're ever interested." Sophia perked up a bit and looked to her mom who nodded and replied, "That'd be lovely. Thanks, Bella. I'll let you know." With one last look to Ed, who still refused to meet her eyes though he seemed totally fine looking at other parts of Bella much to the chagrin of Bella and Shane, they both left and walked back to the group.

They settled back into a similar position as before and the group started a discussion on how to tell Daryl Dixon about his brother. From what she gathered from her short experience with Merle, she was hoping Daryl was nothing like his brother or they would have some big problems when they told him. Bella checked back into the conversation when she heard T-Dog say, "I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze into it at one time. It's not enough to break through there. My point, Dixon is alive. He's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us." Everyone stayed quiet then, not sure what to say. Soon after, people started heading off to their respective areas. Bella watched Rick, Lori, and Carl head to their tent, glad to see them like that. She couldn't help but feel a little jealous and sad that Rick was able to find his family when she had no idea about hers but she quickly dismissed the thought. _Rick's happy so I'm happy._ She turned to Shane by her side and he said, "I got the first watch. Go ahead to bed. I'll try not to wake you when I get in." He gave her one last hug before they went their separate ways.

Bella tried to settle down the best she could and closed her eyes. Dreams of the hospital, the city, and worst of all, her family plagued her. Her sleep was restless and light so when she heard movement around her, she immediately awakened. Forgetting for a moment where she was, she sprang into action when she felt someone inside the tent with her. The assailant quickly got the best of her and held her down. Shane whispered, "Bella! Bella stop! It's just me. Calm down."

"Oh, God. Shane I'm sorry. I forgot where I was."

"It's alright. I'm sorry I woke you." Bella looked up at Shane, fully aware that he was still on top of her from subduing her and didn't seem to be in a hurry to move. "You didn't. I've been havin these dreams, nightmares more like, since all of this crazy shit happened. I haven't really slept in a very long time. I thought that it'd be better now that I had people with me, but I guess I still have to get used to everything." Shane stayed quiet for a little bit, understanding exactly what she was going through. Then, before it could really register in her mind, Shane leaned down and kissed Bella, long, hard, and hot. Bella almost immediately started kissing back. Both of them moved against each other, like they once had, reveling in the feel of each other's bodies on them again. Shane managed to get his shirt and Bella's off before her brain caught up with her body. As she felt Shane's hands make their way down her sides to her pants, she shivered with the light touch, but put a hand out to Shane's chest and tried to push him away. "Shane, stop. As much as I've missed you, I just don't feel right about doing this right now." Shane didn't stop though. He didn't even seem to register her words. His hands made his way into her jeans and started rubbing her on the outside of her underwear, the way that always got her hot and bothered. She was lost in how it felt for a moment before she pushed on him again, more urgently and said, "Shane please stop. Someone could hear us. Shane, seriously." He started to pull down her pants so she grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her. She was taken aback by the carnal hunger and what she thought was anger she saw in his eyes before she said, "Stop Shane. Not like this. Not tonight." Shane finally seemed to register what she was saying. He sighed heavily and whispered, "I'm sorry, Bella. I was just so caught up in having you back again. I missed you so much." Bella understood. "Shh. It's ok. I missed you a lot too. But I really just need a good night's sleep for once. Is that ok?" Shane looked at her for a moment. "Of course it's ok." Bella put her shirt back on, but did take off her jeans when she realized how uncomfortable sleeping in them was. Then, Shane laid down next to her and Bella scooted close to him. He wrapped his arms around her as she found a comfortable position with her head on his shoulder, and they both fell asleep. That night, Bella truly slept for the first time in months, content and safe.


	3. Tell it to the Frogs (pt 2)

A/N Hi! Here's the next chapter for the story, finishing up the episode Tell it to the Frogs. Thanks to EverMineEverThinefor the review and follow. It seems you're the only one so far and I want to thank you for showing a relatively new writer some much needed and appreciated support.

Anyways, on to the next chapter. I hope you like (and I hope more people find it.)  
Hugs and Kisses. Sarah

* * *

Shane woke up first. He started to stretch when he realized Bella was laying on top of him, using his shoulder as a pillow, so he stopped moving. He didn't want to wake her up just yet; he knew this was the first time she had truly slept in months, and he wanted her to get as much as she could. He looked down at the sleeping woman and smiled. Her light brown hair was loose and spilled off his shoulder onto the pillow behind her, wild and all over the place. He couldn't believe how beautiful she still was, despite everything. She still looked healthy enough, and from what he felt last night, was in good shape but still managed to have soft curves in all the right places. Shane always loved watching her sleep, not in a creepy way, but he realized that as tough and sarcastic as she acted all the time, she always looked so peaceful in her sleep. Her mouth twitched slightly at him, and he realized he had still been moving too much so he laid down again, thinking back to when they first got together.

 _They got a call about bar fight. Shane and Rick see it all the time, some guys get into it for whatever dumbass reason after a few drinks and they get called in to clean up the mess. Shane grimaced a bit as they made their way into the bar; he always hated the spotty lighting, stale beer, and grimy interior. Every place was the same: dirty, much like the people who frequent them. Shane sauntered ahead of Rick. They always took turns breaking up the fights; things got a bit messy so one of them had to step in and take a few swings before everyone started to calm down. He walked ahead to break through the crowd around the fight. He could never understand why people enjoyed a bunch of dumbasses beating on each other. He made it through and froze at what he saw. Katie sitting on top of a guy, holding his arms behind his back and pressing his face into the floor. Her shirt was ripped and her lip was bloody, but when she looked up at Shane and Rick, she smiled. "Hey guys, thanks for coming."_

 _Katie went to the station with them to clean up a bit and give her statement for the paperwork. The guy was harassing her friend and wouldn't take no for an answer. She had enough, and when he tried to hit her, she fought back. Shane secretly admired how strong and capable she was, even though she was technically breaking the law._

 _Afterwards, she waited at Rick and Shane's desks in her usual position until Shane walked up. "Do you need a ride home, Katie?" She looked up at him, and he winced at the bruise beginning to bloom on her cheek. She between Rick and him before saying, "I don't really want to go home right now. My dad would have a fit if he saw me like this. I don't want him to worry about me." Rick smiled a bit. "You can stay at my house. The guest room is always done up." She seemed to like that idea before frowning again. "I don't really want Carl to see me like this either. I know he won't care, but he'll ask a ton of questions that I don't know how to answer right now. Plus, I don't think Lori likes me very much." Shane saw Rick about to protest before he sighed, resigned. Shane knew that Lori was jealous of Katie, but Rick was the most upright and doggedly moral people he knew. Lori had nothing to worry about with him, but that never stopped her before. Shane smiled a bit and said, "You can come home with me." Katie smiled teasingly, "You've been waiting to tell me that since we met, haven't you?" Shane chuckled and led her to his car._

 _When they got to his apartment, he told her, "I'll take the couch. You take the bed." Katie shrugged, "Alright, but do you mind if we stay up and watch a movie first or something. I'm still a bit jumpy." They popped in a movie and sat at opposite ends of the couch. Within the first ten minutes, they found themselves sitting next to each other. After a half hour, Katie was leaned up against him with his arm around her. Within an hour, they both stopped watching the movie, suddenly aware of every place their bodies touched. By the end of the movie, Katie was straddling his lap while Shane tried to kiss away every bruise and cut on her face. Katie leaned down and started kissing his neck, making his grip on her hips tighten, and causing her to start wriggling on his lap. Shane managed to speak, breathy and deep, "Katie, if you don't stop moving, it's gonna be mighty hard to stop myself." She leaned back for a second and frowned, before turning around and sliding slowly, painfully so, off his lap and headed towards the bedroom. Shane gulped in as much as air as he could, trying to calm himself down. He turned, when he realized she was behind him. She leant down, dragging both hands down the front of his body before stopping right on top of his pants as she leaned in to whisper, "I don't wanna stop." He looked up into her face, looking for any sign of hesitation or worry. Seeing none, he quickly stood up and rushed into the bedroom with her._

Shane's smile was wide as he remembered that night, and every night they had spent together after that moment. He's still not quite sure how or why it happened. But he never was one to dwell. Bella woke up and smiled when she saw who was next to her. "Mornin'."

Shane smiled. "Get up, sleepyhead. We got a big day today. Daryl should be coming back soon, and we need to be ready to tell him." They both got ready quickly and left their tent.

Rick was just leaving his tent as well. Bella smiled when she noticed he was wearing his wedding ring again. He looked over and saw the two of them leaving Shane's tent together, and he quickly diverted his gaze, walking over to Carol. Bella blushed when she realized what he must be thinking. Shane placed a hand on her back and said, "Try to get situated today. We'll figure how you can do your part a bit later." Bella nodded and he walked away.

She walked over to Glenn, who was watching the guys strip his new car clean. She gave him a comforting pat on the back and kept walking, noticing everyone's morning jobs. She was never much of a cleaner before, just ask her dad, so she didn't think she'd be helpful with that. She could cook well enough, but she needed something to do beyond that. She was good at runs, but she doubted that Shane and Rick would let her more than three feet from the camp. That left the watch. She knew she could do that no problem, so she walked over to T-Dog who seemed to be second in command of sorts.

"What's a girl gotta do to get on the watch rotation?" T-Dog looked up at her from where he knelt near the car and sighed. "Talk to Shane."

"Why? You seem to be the one in charge of the scheduling." T-Dog looked a bit sheepish then. "Shane has this rule, and you need to get the ok from him before I can schedule you in." Bella was confused by this. She stayed planted where she was until Glenn spoke up. "He doesn't let women take watch." Bella blinked a few times before turning on her heels and heading towards Shane. Glenn and T-Dog exchanged glances before hurriedly following behind her. "SHANE!" She called out. He ran from behind the RV, searching for who called him. His eyes softened when he saw Bella, but he noticed her defensive stance and froze.

"What is this bullshit I hear about you not letting women take watch?" Shane glanced behind her at Glenn and T-Dog, who sheepishly shrugged back at him. Shane sighed, "It's not that I don't let women take watch, its just that I only let people with experience take them. Glenn doesn't take watch either because he's not good with any weapons. We can't take the time or resources to train anybody so it has to be people with prior experience, and that, sadly, is the men."

"Put me on rotation, Shane." He sighed again, knowing she won't back down. He looked to T-Dog. "Put her in. But she only does rooftop, no patrolling." She bristled a bit at that, but gave him a short smile and walked away. She was heading toward Rick and Lori when she heard screaming in the woods.

She ran in head first, no hesitation toward the sound. She came across Carl and Sophia and yelled, "Your moms are right behind me. Keep going." She then continued to run toward where they came. She stopped short when she saw a walker feasting on a deer. The other guys stopped just behind her. They couldn't believe one could get this close to camp. The walker finally noticed their presence, and they all chipped in to knock it down, hitting his head clean off. They heard rustling in the woods and Shane stepped up to investigate. A man Bella assumed was Daryl Dixon popped out and exclaimed, "Son of a bitch! That's my deer! I've been tracking it for miles now." Bella noticed the crossbow and string of squirrels and immediately liked this Dixon better. Daryl noticed her and cocked his head, small smile playing on his lips as he checked her out. Then, he walked over to her and said, "Come on people. What the hell?" Bella flinched when he shot an arrow into the head behind her. "It's gotta be the brain."

They all followed him back to camp. When he started calling out for Merle, Shane called out, "Daryl, slow up a bit. We need to talk to you."

"About what?"

"About Merle. There was a problem in Atlanta." Bella frowned at the heartbroken look that crossed Daryl's face before it quickly turned to anger as he heard what they did to Merle. Daryl pulled a knife and started swinging at Rick. Bella approached from the back and disarmed him, before standing up next to Rick as Shane calmed him down. "You're telling me that you brought back Officer Dipshit and his little bitch but you left my brother chained to a roof like a fucking animal!" His voice rose with each word until he was practically screaming. Shane tightened his grip on Daryl's neck, who slowly started to go down.

Rick knelt down and said, "I'd like to have a calm discussion about this. Do you think we can manage that?" Shane released him. Bella stood off to the side as she watched the discussion. She couldn't believe that Rick was willing to go back. He just got here and he was going to risk his life leaving again. Bella ran up to him as he Shane called out, "Why? Why would you risk your life for a douchebag like Merle Dixon?" Daryl protested, "Hey, choose your words more carefully." Bella spoke up. "I think he did. Douchebag's puttin it lightly." Daryl gave him a face but let it go.

The group going to Atlanta grew to four, and even though they expanded the mission to grabbing a bag of guns to appease Shane, no one was very happy about this plan. Lori and Carl looked on helplessly as they left. Bella watched as Carl stormed off into his tent and Lori quickly followed. Bella made her way up to the top of the RV to replace Dale on watch. A little while later, Lori looked up at her, looking a bit frazzled. "Bella? Have you seen Carl?" She looked down and saw the worry in Lori's face.

"Let me see if I can see him." Bella surveyed around the campsite. She truly loved being on top of the RV. She could see practically everything around the grounds, and even farther beyond. She finally spotted Carl and Shane down by the lake. She knew Carl was bummed about Rick leaving, and Shane was trying his best to keep his spirits up. "They're down by the lake. I think they were talkin a bit earlier about catchin some frogs." Lori gave Bella a piercing look before storming off in a huff. Bella rolled her eyes at Lori before continuing to pay attention to her surroundings. She wouldn't let Lori's attitude get in the way of keeping people safe.

She looked down again and smiled at Shane writhing around in the water, and she could almost hear Carl's laughter from where she stood. Her smile faded when she noticed Ed watching over the women working by the lake. He walked over and started bothering them, especially Carol. She couldn't leave her post, but she damn well couldn't just sit and watch it happen. She went to call somebody when she saw Shane and Lori fighting by the lake. Shane made to walk off after Lori before turning around and grabbing Ed. He started to beat him, and while Bella was happy that someone finally knocked that man down a peg, she didn't know that Shane could be that intense. She had never seen that from him before. She called out, knowing how unlikely it was that he would hear it, "SHANE!"

Even though he didn't hear it, Shane somehow knew that she was watching. He couldn't do this while she was watching. He warned Ed not to touch his wife, his daughter, or anyone else or he wouldn't stop next time. As he much as he wants to think he would have stopped on his own, he knew that the only reason he stopped just then was because he knew Bella was there, knew that if she saw what he had turned into, that she would look at him differently, and he didn't think he could handle that. The fight with Lori had riled him up; he felt so lost, but he knew that Bella being here helped him. He cleared away some of the fog that seemed to settle in his mind when he was upset, covering up where he would normally find his better judgement. He needed her. He needed her badly.

Shane made his way up to the cliff top and called up to Bella. "Hey! Hey, Bella, can you come down here?" Bella looked over the side and stared down at him. "I'm on watch, Shane, can it wait?" She saw the blood on his shirt, his shifty eyes and how his hands twitched. As much as she didn't want to admit it, in that moment he looked down right dangerous. She watched him turn suddenly. "Hey, Morales!" Morales walked up to him from his family's tent. "What's up?"

"I need you to cover the rest of Bella's shift alright? I'll take yours tonight. Is that ok?" Morales replied, "Yeah, sure Shane. Whatever you need." Bella watched and then sighed. She made her way down the ladder and nodded to Morales before heading over to Shane.

"Ok, so what's so important?" Without saying a word, Shane grabbed her wrist and nearly dragged her into the tent they shared. He silently took off his shirt and used it to rub off the blood on his hands before throwing it against the side. He then grabbed Bella's weapons belt and gun, carefully taking them off and laying them more gently onto the ground. Bella looked at him with confusion mixed with worry. "Shane? Are you ok? Is something wrong? I saw what you did to Ed. He deserved it if that's what you're worried about. I don't think you can-" Shane cut her off with a hard, urgent kiss. He pulled back just as suddenly. "I don't want to talk Bella. I just- don't make me talk. I'm not ready to talk."

Before she could reply, he grabbed her again, pulling her flush against his body into another bruising kiss. His hands made their way from her arms, to her waist, to her hair, pulling her closer and closer. Bella could barely comprehend what was happening. She tried to stop him, tried to look into his eyes, but when she saw the depths of anger and despair looking back at her, she quickly decided that this wasn't about her. She knew that Shane had turned to sex before, when he was angry or depressed. She had just never been the receiving end of that kind of contact with him before. Sure, they had sex, like a lot, but it was always because they were both turned on and ready, not because they needed to forget something else. She wasn't sure she would be able to go through with the kind of sex he seemed to be wanting.

He pulled her down to the sleeping bags, and laid down on top of her, never breaking contact with her body. She was about to protest, about to stop this before she did something she would regret. But then, she felt the grip on the back of her neck tighten, keeping her lips locked to his and her body taught while his other hand worked his way into her jeans and started rubbing small circles around her clit. Her breath caught in her throat as she tried to swallow her moan. She was silently glad that his lips were basically attached to hers. Her body started to wriggle and curl as he continued his ministrations. Just as she was about to fall over the edge, he stopped and removed his hand. She huffed at him in annoyance, and he smirked at her before undoing his belt and pulling himself out of his pants. He pulled her pants and underwear down, carefully avoiding touching her again. She started moving around again, trying to relieve the ache in her core, to get rid of the tension that built up behind her navel. She reached down to touch herself, desperate to get rid of the ache when his hand grabbed both her arms and held them to the ground above her head. He used his other hand to cover her mouth before plunging into her.

He was going strong and hard from the start, Bella could barely keep up with his rhythm. She was grateful now for his touch earlier because she knew she wouldn't have been able to deal with how hard he was going now without it. It had been so long since she had had sex. As much as her body was enjoying this, she couldn't help but feel a bit used and dirty. As her body grew tighter with the impending orgasm, Shane felt the tug on his abdomen as well. He kept going as she finally crashed over the edge, her pulsing pulling him along with her. He bit into her shoulder to keep from crying out and she knew that without his hand on her mouth, she would've cried out in pain.

As they both stopped moving, huffing from exertion, Shane sat up and removed himself from her core. As wordlessly as when they started, he tucked himself back in and buckled up, threw on a new shirt, and left Bella exposed on the ground, used and alone. As she watched him leave without a word, Bella couldn't help but cry.


	4. Vatos

A/N Hi everybody! Here's the next part of the story. It's a bit shorter than the others so far, but its all of Vatos and it reached a pretty natural conclusion so I figured better to have a slightly shorter chapter than a disjointed one. A HUGE thank you to EverMineEverThine and MrsBennyLafitte for the reviews. And a big welcome to the new followers. I truly appreciate the support, and it really is encouraging. I'm not going to stop writing if I don't get any reviews, but it really is nice to know that people are actually out there somewhere reading my story. Reminder that I'm fairly new at this so if there are any questions/comments/concerns about anything in my story, please leave a review or message me. I'm still learning about what my writing style is and what works best so please tell me what you think. Any and every comment is encouraged and appreciated! :)

Anyways, on with the chapter.  
Hugs and Kisses. Sarah.

* * *

Bella calmed down after a few minutes, but she stayed in the tent. She didn't feel like being sociable and she definitely didn't want to see Shane right now. She could tell that something was bothering him, its why she didn't stop him, but she had still never felt so used in her life. _I've dated some jerks in the past but this is the first time I've ever truly felt like nothing._ She hated feeling this way. _I'm not going to feel like this again. He can't make me feel like this again._ Bella cleaned herself up a bit, straightened up her clothes, and headed outside.

Andrea and Amy had just come back from the lake with a huge haul of fish. Bella smiled at everyone's enthusiasm. _Way better than the squirrel we've been eating._ Bella's smile disappeared when she saw Dale walking towards the group. "I, uh, I don't want to alarm anyone, but we may have a bit of a problem." Dale looked up towards the peak. Everyone followed his gaze to see Jim digging. Bella hadn't had any sort of interaction with Jim, but he seemed to be a pretty peaceful guy, never causing trouble. This worried her; it seemed to be worrying everybody. Pretty much the whole camp went up to confront him. _Probably not the best idea to ambush a man with a shovel who's been digging in hundred degree heat._ With a small shrug, brow slightly furrowed in worry, Bella followed the crowd up.

Everyone stood around and watched Jim dig for a moment. Shane spoke up, "Hey Jim? Why don't you hold up, alright, just give us a second here, please?" Jim paused. "What do you want?"

"Well, just a little concerned, man, that's all." Morales jumped in. "Dale says you've been out here for hours."

Jim straightened up defensively. "So?" Bella knew already that this was most likely not going to end well. When she heard Jim's comment about Ed, she turned around and headed back to camp. She didn't quite know how Shane would react to that, but she honestly couldn't handle it right now. She sat in front of her tent and started sharpening her knives, waiting for everyone to come back. A few minutes later, she saw Shane leading Jim back down in handcuffs. Bella huffed a bit, but continued to work on her knives.

Once she noticed everyone slowly going back to their own business, Bella headed over to Jim who was slumped against a tree. "Hey, Jim. You want some water?" Jim replied, "Alright," so Bella scooped some into a mug and held up to Jim's lips. She slowly tilted the cup up before pulling it away. "Pour some on my head?" Bella smiled a bit. "Sure." She poured some on his head before pouring the rest of the cup on her own. The water felt great. She set the mug back in the bucket and turned to back to Jim. "Are you feeling better now?"

"Yeah, I am." Jim turned toward the table where Carl and Sophia were learning with their moms. "Sorry if I scared your boy, your little girl." Lori replied, "You had sunstroke, nobody's blaming you."

"You're not scared now, are you?" Sophia replied, "No sir," but Carl remained silent. Jim turned back to Bella. "You're not scared of me, are you? Sun just cooked my head a little bit, that's all." Bella nodded her head in understanding. Dale stood off to the side. Bella knew what he wanted to ask, but she beat him to it. "Jim, do you know why you were digging?"

"I had a reason, don't remember. Something I dreamt last night." He turned to Carl. "Your dad was in it, you were too, you were worried about him, and I don't really remember the rest. You worried about your dad?"

Carl spoke up, "They're not back yet." Lori chimed in, "We don't really need to talk about that right now."

"Your dad's a police officer, son. He helps people, probably just came across some folks need help that's all. Now that man, he's tough as nails. I don't know him well, but I can see it in him. Am I right?" Bella realized that the last part was directed to her. "Sure are." Jim continued, "There ain't nothing to stop him from coming back to you." Bella smiled at him, a full, bright smile that Jim couldn't help but reciprocate. "You know, when you smile, you kinda remind me of my wife. She had this big smile that could light up a room. It was infectious, just like yours." Bella blushed slightly and replied, "Thank you Jim. That's very kind."

"Make sure to keep who's important to you close. Never let them out of your sight." Bella smiled, "Thanks for the advice, Jim, but I don't really have anybody like that anymore." Jim smiled a knowing smile. "I see how he looks at you. You may not notice, but a lot of other people do."

"Oh, Shane doesn't really like me that wa-"

"I wasn't talking about him. I was talking about Rick. And what I said applied to you too. I know there's nothing that would stop him from coming back to you." Bella didn't quite know how to respond so she gave Jim a quick nod and left. She didn't notice Lori, who had been listening in on the whole conversation, storming off in the other direction.

* * *

After the fish had been cleaned and cooked, everyone gathered around the fire together. Dale was telling a story about a watch. It was really nice and comforting; Bella remembered it from some random college lit class she took. When he concluded, everyone sat in comfortable silence for a moment. Bella noticed Shane and Lori exchanged yet another heated stare. Amy broke in by saying, "You're so weird." Everyone laughed. This was the first time in quite awhile where Bella felt somewhat normal, like the world wasn't quite over and it was just some long camping trip with a bunch of strangers. She liked having a break from the chaos and destruction of the world. She wondered where Rick and the rest of them were. She was worried since they've been gone so long. She thought back to what Jim said too. _Rick doesn't like me like that. He has Lori. He's always had Lori. I mean, I know their marriage wasn't great, but he really did love her. Does. I mean, does love her. Doesn't he?_ Bella was broken from her thoughts by a long scream. She looked over to see Amy being bit by a walker. She immediately leaped up and unsheathed one of her knives, throwing it at the walked that bit her. It hit him straight in the eye, and he collapsed along with Amy.

After that, all hell broke loose. Everyone started running around, trying to get away from the walkers. Bella ran towards a large group and started killing all the ones she could get to. She soon noticed Shane shooting some as well. Everyone was trying as much as possible to protect everybody. People were moving towards the RV, and Bella joined the group to try to protect as many as possible. She looked over at Shane and saw the same panicked look that she knew she had. There were just too many of them. There was no way they would be able to keep everybody alive. She kept fighting though. Katherine Isabella Penn was never one to quit. Bella was momentarily distracted when she heard gunshots coming in from the other direction. She looked up to see Rick and the group coming back, killing everything they could. With the newfound fire power, they had the camp secured pretty quickly after that. Rick called out to Carl, who ran and started balling into his shirt. Bella looked over and saw Andrea kneeling over Amy, who seemed to have gotten another bite on the neck.

Bella couldn't believe the death that surrounded her. She had tricked herself into thinking, just for a moment, that things were safe, that everything was normal and the world wasn't hell on earth. Leave it to the universe to right her thoughts so quickly. She didn't know what to do. She had no idea how to even begin to fix what happened. She stood around, staring aimlessly at everything while covered in blood and guts from the walkers she killed. Rick noticed her, and after making sure once again that Carl and Lori were as ok as they could be, he walked over to her. Rick grabbed both sides of her face to make her look at him.

"Bella, hey. Are you alright? You're not hurt, right?" Bella nodded in response, trying to stay strong, but she felt her resolve weaken as she saw the worry and relief in Rick's eyes. She quickly shook her head as tears filled her eyes and finally broke down. Rick held Bella close, the strongest girl he's ever known falling apart in his arms. The pair heard Jim say, "I remember my dream now, why I dug the holes." Bella sobbed even harder, eventually collapsing to the ground, forcing Rick to follow her as she held onto him as hard as she could. They stayed in that position, oblivious to the pointed stares they were getting from Shane and Lori. All they were thinking about in that moment was how happy they were to have each other back in their lives, how grateful they were that they didn't lose each other yet.

Bella sobbed at that thought, knowing that she wouldn't be able to handle it if Rick died. She wouldn't know how to live if Rick was no longer a part of her life. She realized in that moment how much she truly loved that man. Little did she know that when Rick tightened his arms around her, he was thinking the same thing.


	5. Wildfire (pt 1)

A/N Hi everybody! Thank you to all of the new people who have followed/favorited this story. I love getting those emails; it is so encouraging to know people are out there reading and enjoying this. I also want everyone to know that I try to read everybody else's stories if they have one too. I love reading different types of stories and I figured what better way to do that than to extend the same encouragement and support that you all are giving me. Thank you to EverMineEverThine for the support from the beginning and to angelgobad05 for supporting BOTH of my stories. It is so incredibly encouraging to know that I have your support. Thank you all so much.

This is the first part of Wildfire. From now on, I'm going to title the chapters with what episode its based on. This will most likely continue for as long as I want the story to go on. I may eventually decide to either end the story or depart from the original story line, but for now, that's what my plan is. Also, this may be my last chapter for a little while. I'm starting college soon and I want to make sure to have time to truly situate myself and figure out how to best allocate my time so that my stories can continue. Know that I am not abandoning this story or my other one. If I do take time off, it is just a break and the stories will continue. I'm too invested in them to not see them through.

Anyways, enough with the chitchat.  
Hugs and Kisses. Sarah

* * *

"Morgan. I don't know if you're out there, and I don't know if you can hear me now. I hope so. I found others, my family if you can believe it. My wife, my son. They're alive. I wanted you to know. There's something else you need to know. Atlanta isn't what we thought, it's not what they promised. Do not enter the city. It belongs to the dead now. We're camped a few miles northwest up by a big abandoned rock quarry. You can see it on a map. I hope you come find us. You be careful. Last night, walkers came out of the woods. We lost people. Watch yourself, Morgan, take care of your boy. I'll try again tomorrow at dawn." Rick released the talk button only to be greeted with static. He sighed and stood. When he turned around, he was a bit startled to see Bella standing behind him, arms crossed against her chest as she slightly shivered against the cool morning. Rick put on his best smile under the circumstances, and said "Morning Bella. How you feelin?"

Bella smiled a bit in response, but it didn't reach her eyes. "I'm fine, Rick. How are you?"

"Could be worse," Rick said with a shrug as they slowly made their way back to camp. "Look, Rick. I wanted to apologize for breaking down on you last night. You shouldn't've had to deal with that, and while I'm grateful, it really-"

Rick interrupted, "Bella, you have absolutely nothing to apologize for. Last night was awful. We lost a lot of good people, but from what I heard and saw, it would've been a whole lot worse if you hadn't been there. I'd be more worried about the person who didn't react the way you did to something like that."

"I guess, but you should've been comforting your family, not me." Rick stopped walking and grabbed Bella's arm, forcing her to stop and look at him. "You are as much a part of my family as Lori and Carl and don't you ever forget it. You can't be strong all the time, and nobody's expectin' you to be. Don't ever feel bad about feeling. There's not much left in this world to hold onto, but we won't be able to survive it if we stop feeling." Bella nodded with tears in her eyes. Rick engulfed her in a hug. They stood there for another moment before breaking apart. The two silently continued back to camp.

Bella broke the silence. "Hey, uh, Rick? Who's Morgan?" They had reached camp at that point. Rick didn't much feel like everybody knowing about Morgan and Duane just yet so he answered, "I'll tell you later." Bella shrugged and watched him walk away.

She saw Lori trying to talk Andrea into letting go of Amy. When she didn't have any luck, she walked back to where everyone was gathered, watching the two sisters. Bella followed Lori over.

Rick walked up as well. "She still won't move?" Lori responded. "No. Won't even talk to us. She's been there all night. What do we do?"

Shane spoke up. "We can't just leave Amy like that. We need to deal with it. Same as the others." Bella looked at him in disgust. She knew he was right, but it still felt wrong that they would have to "deal with" someone like that. Rick said, "I'll tell her how it is." Bella spoke up, "No, I'll talk to her." She walked over and went to kneel down. "Andrea-" Bella was cut off by a gun being pointed at her face.

When she saw that it was Bella, and not Rick like she thought, she slowly lowered her gun, but didn't apologize. Bella knew that Andrea was not going to talk to her any time soon so she figured she would talk and Andrea would just listen. "Did I ever get to tell you about my sister? Hannah was the brightest, bubbliest person I'd ever met. I think she and Amy would've been great friends. She always knew just what to say to get me to laugh or smile, it was never a dull moment with her. I always felt so protective of her. I know she didn't need me, but its big sister instincts, you know? When she called to tell me dad had had another heart attack, it near broke my heart to hear her voice so filled with worry and fear. I wasn't there to protect her. I should've been there when all of this shit happened, but I couldn't quite leave DC as early as I wanted to. I have no idea what happened to her, and I'm not sure I ever will. I don't know whether to pray that she's alive somewhere so that I could maybe find her and see her again, or hope that she's already dead so she wouldn't've had to live in a world like this." Bella looked over at Andrea. Even though she didn't look up, Bella knew that she was listening.

"I know you may not feel like it, and I really know this is going to sound horrible, but you're lucky. You have closure in a way that I probably never will. You have to make sure to remember Amy as the vibrant, full-of-life girl that we all know she was. I think seeing her any other way will hurt more than losing her. You have to do it." She thought she saw a little bit of understanding in Andrea's eyes. "Andrea, I'm not gonna pretend to know what you're going through right now, but know that if it were Hannah, I would do it. I would need to do it, not to make sure she's dead, but to make sure that she stays alive in my heart, mind, and soul as the person she was. Please, don't do it for me or anybody else or even for you. Do it for Amy." Andrea nodded, tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry, Amy."

Bella realized that she had started to cry as well. Bella flinched only slightly at the sound of the gun going off. Andrea turned to Bella and grabbed onto her for dear life, sobbing into her shirt. Bella held onto Andrea tightly and cried as well, for Andrea, for Amy, for her sister and her dad.

Rick and Shane watched the exchange from afar. Both had jumped up to help Bella when they saw Andrea with the gun, and even though they relaxed when the gun went down, neither one left as they listened to what Bella was saying. Rick couldn't begin to imagine what Bella was feeling, not knowing about what happened to her family. He couldn't help the twinge of guilt that he felt about the fact that he had his family back while she had no clue about hers. Shane felt regret wash over him as he listened to Bella's speech. He couldn't believe how he had acted toward her. He was upset about losing Lori and Rick seeming to be trying to take over as leader, but that was no excuse. He just used her to get out his frustration, and she deserved better than that. She deserved better than him.

Bella and Andrea broke apart when Daryl and Morales walked by, dragging one of their own to join the others laid out in a line. "Reap what you sow."

Morales lashed out, "Y'know what, shut up man." Ignoring him, Daryl continued. "Y'all left my brother for dead. You had this coming." Then he stormed off. No one knew how to respond to that. Most dismissed his words as nothing more than a foolish rant from a grief-stricken brother, but his words struck a chord with Bella. She had never really been a religious or spiritual person, but this new world pushed her to try to believe in something. She couldn't really believe that anyone deserved this, though, no matter what past actions might dictate.

"A walker got him. A walker bit Jim!" Jacqui cried out. Bella rushed to the pair along with the others. Andrea remained kneeling by her sister's side, not ready to leave her yet. Everyone circled around Jim. "I'm ok. I'm ok," Jim repeated, almost as if he were trying to convince himself as well as the others.

"Show it to us," Daryl demanded. Jim grabbed a shovel to use as a weapon and Bella inched along behind the others as everyone started to push tighter towards Jim. They subdued him to lift his shirt, and even after the bite was revealed, Jim still repeated his mantra, "I'm ok. I'm ok." The crowd broke away to discuss what should be done. "Someone put a pickaxe in his head and be done with it." _Daryl, ever the people person,_ Bella thought.

Shane asked, "That what you'd want? If it were you?"

"Yeah. And I'd thank you while you did it."

"I hate to say it, and I never thought I would, but maybe Daryl's right." Dale spoke up, surprising Bella.

"Jim's not a monster, Dale, or some rabid dog. He's sick. If we start down that road, where do we draw the line?" Rick chimed in, trying to keep a level head.

Daryl spoke again. "The line's pretty clear. Zero tolerance for walkers or them to be."

"What if we could get him help? I heard the CDC was working on a cure."

"I heard that too. Heard a lot of things before the world went to hell," Shane chimed in. "What if the CDC's still up and running?"

"Man, that is a stretch right there." Bella tuned out of their debate. All she could think about was her time in Atlanta. She witnessed death and destruction firsthand, knew personally how devastating the dead, and the living, can be. The walkers weren't the only things killed in Atlanta. Bella noticed Daryl look back toward Jim who was sitting by the RV. She saw the slightest twitch from him before he stormed back, shouting something about someone needing to take charge.

Before he could take another step, Daryl felt a knife on his throat. "We don't kill humans. Jim is still alive, he's still here. What would we be if we started killin' the living?" Bella lightened the hold she had on Daryl, but didn't let go yet. "We'd be no better than the monsters that surround us. We gotta keep our humanity, it's one of the only things we got left."

Daryl turned and gave her a look, "It's funny, coming from a bitch who had a knife to my throat." Rick and Shane stepped up behind Daryl. Shane said, "Come on, now. Just put it down." Daryl threw the pickaxe onto the ground and stormed off. Bella walked to Jim and helped him stand. "Come on, Jim. Let's get you somewhere safe." She helped Jim into the RV and tried to get him as comfortable as possible. "If you need anything, Jim, please let me know." Jim didn't respond so she turned toward the door. As she was about to leave, she heard Jim speak up. "Thank you Bella." With a nod, Bella left.

Suddenly exhausted, Bella headed toward the tent. Noticing where she was going, Shane followed and entered the tent soon after she did. Bella sighed, "Not now, Shane. I'm really not in the mood." Shane stood around awkwardly for a second. "Bella, I, uh, just wanted to, well, I wanted to talk about what happened before. You know, between us. And I just wanted to-"

"Save it Shane."

"What?"

"Just save it. I've heard this speech too many times before whether it be from you or from some other girl that was unlucky enough to fall for you. It's always excuses with you. I don't want it. What we did is in the past, it's done. It's over with. Let's just move on, alright?"

"Damnit, Bella. I was trying to apologi-"

"What's up with you and Lori?" Shane was shocked into silence by her question. He thought that they had been cautious, barely looking at each other, hardly ever standing near each other or talking to each other for that matter. He had no idea how Bella found out. "I know something happened. I've seen the way you two look at each other. You may not notice, but I sure have. And ever since Rick and I've been back, I thought it could be a bit more normal, like life could return to the way it was for just a little bit. But whatever happened between you and Lori changed you. Now, a lot of it I'm sure came from the world, the way it is now, but I can tell when something's wrong with you, Shane. I always have and I probably always will. So I know something happened between you two."

"That's none of your business."

"The hell it's not! It became my business when you decided to work out whatever problems you had with Lori through me, not with me. It's my business because you are my best friend and I hate seeing you hurt. It's my business because the way Lori looks at me sometimes its like I killed her dog. It's my business because Rick is the best goddamn person in my life and I can't, I won't let anything hurt him."

Shane grabbed Bella's arm roughly, causing her to stop talking. He leaned in and snarled in her face. "As I said before, it is none of your fucking business. What happened between me and Lori is between the two of us, it does not concern you. I don't care about the way Lori looks at you or whatever way you may think of me now. Damn right, I've changed. It's because I've had to. We thought you two were dead so we adjusted to the new world the best we could. But don't for a second think that you have everything figured out because you have no idea. And I will not let you spread lies around this camp and jeopardize everything that I've worked for. It'd be in your best interest to lie low and follow the rules. Got it?" Bella nodded weakly, not daring to look into Shane's eyes, afraid of what she'd see. Shane released her arm, practically throwing her to the ground, and stormed out of the tent. Bella sat down on the ground in a daze. _What the hell just happened?_

Andrea popped her head in. "Bella? We're heading up to bury the bodies now." Bella sniffed and wiped her eyes, hardly noticing the tears before. Andrea frowned. "You ok?" Bella nodded and stood, grabbing Andrea's arm on the way out of the tent. "Yeah, just been a long few days. I'm good. Plus, I should be supporting you right now. Not the other way around." The pair walked the rest of the way up together in comfortable silence. When it came time for Amy, Andrea stepped forward, trying to deal with her body personally. She finally made it into the grave, and Dale helped her climb out. She made to walk back to Bella, but noticing the vacant expression on her face, Andrea followed the rest of the group back down. Bella stayed behind everyone else.

Rick walked with Lori and Carl, worrying about what would've happened if it had been them. He tried to comfort Carl as best he could, but he couldn't help but feel like he was making false promises. He also felt like Lori was blaming him for something he couldn't control. He really couldn't understand why she was so hesitant to stand by him. That's what marriage was for after all, wasn't it? Sure, she said she loved him, but he could practically feel the hesitation from her.

They both visited Jim, checking to see how he was doing. Rick talked with Jim, and afterwards, he was shaken to the bone. He tried to hold onto his beliefs the best he could, but hearing Jim talk like that, seeing how bad he was getting, was testing his faith in a way he never thought it could. As Rick was exiting the cabin, he noticed Shane and Lori beginning a heated debate. Rather than confronting the two, like he might have, Rick took a moment to survey the camp around him. Everyone seemed to be coping as best they could, trying to figure out a way to move on, even if only for the moment. Rick realized he was missing someone. Rick finally interrupted the two, though not for the reason either of them would've liked. "Have you all seen Bella?" Shane shook his head while Lori let out an exasperated, "No. I'm sure she's fine Rick. We really need to talk with you now." Rick was done being leader for the time being. He spotted Andrea and walked towards her, ignoring Lori's calls behind him.

"Andrea, have you seen Bella?" Andrea shook her head. "Last I saw her was up top after the burial. I don't think she's come down yet." Rick thanked Andrea and headed up to the top. He immediately spotted Bella sitting alone amongst the fresh graves. He walked up and sat next to her, not saying anything. Rick noticed a bruise on her arm that hadn't been there before and fresh tears flowing from her eyes. He didn't know what happened to her as he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer, but he knew that he would do whatever he could to fix it.


	6. Wildfire (pt 2)

A/N Hi everybody! Did you miss me? I definitely missed you guys! I'm officially a college student now, and found some free time to get the next part of Wildfire up. There will be one more part to this episode before we move on. This part had a bit more original content than the other parts which is why this part covers approximately 10 mins of the actual episode whereas the other two parts cover pretty the first half and the second half. :)

A big thank you to EverMineEverThine for the support from the beginning; it really means a lot. (you all should check out their story A Charming Life for Sons of Anarchy. It's brilliant!) Also, a thank you to Meiko6989 for the review. Reviews mean a lot to me in terms of showing me that people actually care about my story. It's gonna be hard in the coming months to find adequate time to write for this, but reviews are amazingly powerful motivators. :)

I did want to address one thing in the upcoming chapter before you all get into it. Andrea is going to seem a lot more chipper and all around more healthy than she did in the show after Amy's death. I'm placing that fact almost completely on Bella and her speech from last chapter. I think that Bella and Andrea have a pretty solid friendship, something Andrea didn't have on the show, and I think Bella opening up about her younger sister and how she would feel in that situation would give Andrea a stronger sense of closure than Dale's speech did in the show. I think Bella's presence helps ease the guilt and self-pity that Andrea was suffering through alone on the show. So it may seem like she's already moved on or gotten over Amy's death or whatever, but I really just wanted to put Andrea in a healthy mindspace. She was one of my favorite characters and I liked less and less how she was dealt with on the show. But that's the good thing about writing fanfic because I can change it. :)

Anyways, I bored you enough with this. On with the chapter. And thanks again everybody!  
Hugs and Kisses. Sarah.

* * *

Bella sat wrapped up in Rick's arms long after her tears dried, enjoying the familiar comfort she felt. This position brought back a long forgotten memory, one that Bella kind of wished had stayed forgotten.

 _Bella paced back and forth in the living room. Carl had long since gone to bed, but she knew that Rick was still on shift and Lori was going to be out late with her friends. Bella couldn't shake this feeling of immeasurable dread deep in her gut. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she knew something was wrong. She could feel it. She had sent texts to her dad, but hadn't gotten a reply yet. Her sister was away at college so she didn't bother texting her. Bella wanted Hannah to be able to enjoy college the best she could. She was incredibly proud of her sister for choosing to leave when Bella herself didn't- couldn't. She didn't want to worry her sister until she knew what was bothering her so much._

 _Bella was broken from her thoughts when she noticed headlights pulling into the driveway. She stared at the door, confused as Rick pushed it open and stood to greet her. "A bit early, isn't it Rick? I thought Lori was supposed to get home before you." Bella noticed Rick's grim expression. "Ricky, what's wrong?"_

" _Katie_ _, I think you should sit down." Rick moved towards the couch, grabbing her arm gently to seat her. Bella ripped her arm from his grasp. "No. Tell me what's wrong. Now."_

 _Rick sighed deeply and turned to her, avoiding her eyes. "It's about your dad." Rick met her eyes when he didn't hear anything from her. He saw tears start to form. "He was on the job, taking a statement about a robbery at the gas station up the road when he, uh…"_

" _What Rick? Is he ok?" Rick saw that her mind was racing with different scenarios. "Is he dead? He's not dead is he?" Rick rushed to her as it seemed like Bella was about to collapse. He settled them both onto the couch. "Your daddy had a heart attack. He was rushed to the hospital and he's in surgery right now, but it was bad. Real bad."_

" _Is he going to be ok?" Bella trusted Rick. She would've believed anything he said to her at that moment. "Yeah, Katie. He's going to be just fine. I got to talk to him just before he went into surgery. He wanted me to tell you what happened, but he didn't want you to visit him until morning." Bella nodded slowly, still trying to process what Rick had told her._

" _I knew something bad was going to happen," Rick heard Bella whisper. Bella's shoulders started to shake as her tears were finally released. Rick leaned in and wrapped his arms tight around her. She cried on his shoulder for what seemed like hours. When it she had calmed down a bit, Bella leaned back up and pulled away slightly. She seemed almost unsure of what to do next._

 _Rick said, "Katie, you're welcome to stay here for the night. I can drive you over to the hospital in the morning. I think it might be best if you weren't alone tonight." Bella nodded numbly in agreement so Rick helped them both stand and walked Bella over to the guest room. She took off her jacket and jeans, not caring that Rick was still in the room with her. Rick blushed slightly but didn't say anything. She got under the covers and just as Rick was about to leave, he heard her whisper his name. He turned around. "Katie? Did you need something?"_

" _Would you stay with me? Just for a little bit. I don't want to fall asleep alone right now." Rick seemed surprised by the request, but seeing the lost look on her face convinced him that if it was what she needed, he would do it. With a kind smile on his face, he walked over to the bed and climbed on top. "Sure, Katie." He kissed her on the top of her head, and settled back against the headboard._

 _Neither of them had realized Rick had fallen asleep too, or that they had somehow wrapped themselves around each other sometime in the night. Lori was surprised to see not only Rick's cruiser in the driveway, but Bella's car parked across the street as well. Lori had thought she was supposed to have gotten home first, but if Rick was here, why would Bella still be? As Lori walked into the house, she made to call out Rick's name when she noticed the guest bedroom door slightly ajar. She cautiously crept forward and peered inside. Lori didn't know what she had expected to see, but it definitely wasn't her husband and Bella twisted around each other asleep. Lori saw Bella's jeans on the ground, Rick's arms wrapped tightly around Bella's waist. Lori quietly backed away from the door, careful to make as little noise as possible, and then left in a silent fury, fuming about what she thought had happened between the two of them._

Bella grimaced slightly at that memory, not just because of her daddy's heart attack, but because of the incredible fight that occurred between Rick and Lori afterwards. She didn't know how Lori found out, but as much as both Rick and Bella swore that nothing had happened, Lori did not believe them. Lori eventually forgave Rick, but she was never the same around Bella. And now that Bella knows about Lori and Shane's relationship, Lori's hatred and disdain for her had grown substantially.

Bella leaned back, sniffing and wiping the tears with the collar of her shirt. "Sorry." Rick looked almost offended by her apology. "Do not apologize, Bella. There is absolutely no reason for you to apologize." Bella noticed Rick looking at the bruise that had flowered on her arm from Shane's grip. "Oh that, that's nothing. Probably just slept on a rock or something without realizing it." Bella knew that was a flimsy excuse, and Rick was definitely not buying it. But he could tell from the look in her eyes that now was not the right time to get into an argument about the truth.

Rick only nodded and stood up, helping Bella to her feet. "We should head back down. I know you and Shane are supposed to do the rounds right about now, but why don't I do it for you? You just make sure that you're alright, maybe talk to Andrea or something, ok?"

"Ok Ricky. Thanks." Rick slung his arm around her shoulders as they walked back down to camp. "Don't mention it." Bella smiled slightly, enjoying the weight of Rick's arm on her shoulders. It felt comfortable, safe.

As the pair walked into camp, all eyes seemed to be on them but they hardly noticed. Andrea smiled slightly and shook her head with mirth, Daryl looked for a moment before scoffing, and most of the others looked for a second before continuing their tasks. Lori and Shane, however, couldn't stop staring at the pair, furious for different reasons but equally agitated. Bella split off from Rick to head over to Andrea, but not before placing a small kiss on Rick's cheek. Rick walked over to Shane and said, "I'm gonna take Bella's rounds today. You ready?" Shane nodded blindly and followed Rick to grab a gun before heading into the woods, thinking of ways to secure his spot in the group and keep his relationship with Lori, and his transgressions with Bella, a secret.

Andrea looked up from the fishing wire she was winding to smile at Bella. She joked, "Looks like you and Rick are pretty cozy, huh?" Her smile died a bit when she saw how serious Bella looked. "What's wrong?"

Bella shifted slightly, "Can we go somewhere to talk? I have to tell you something." Andrea set the reel aside and stood, nodding. The two walked off to the edge of the woods, away from most of the people so no one could hear their conversation. Bella told Andrea about her relationships with Rick, Lori, and Shane and what's happened in the past few days. Andrea listened quietly throughout it all, not once interrupting Bella in case Bella got too scared to continue. She grew more and more angry about what Shane had been doing to Bella.

"We can't let him get away with that, Bella." Andrea said when Bella was finished. "What he did to you was not ok." Bella nodded. "I know. But he's not in his right mind, Andrea. He thinks of himself as the leader of the camp and feels that Rick is undermining his authority. My past relationship with him and my connection to Rick and Lori doesn't help the situation either. I think he's slipping, Andrea. I'm not sure what he's going to do." Andrea's eyes widened as she remembered where Shane and Rick were at the moment. "You don't think- with the two of them being armed and alone in the woods, that Shane would try to…" Andrea didn't even want to finish the thought out loud. Bella's eyes grew equally as large before she cried out, "SHIT!" And ran into the woods, trying to find the pair as fast as she could.

When Bella did find them, what she saw chilled her to her core. Shane had his shotgun pointed right at Rick, and it seemed like he was going to pull the trigger. "Shane!" Bella's exclamation made him turn toward her, gun still raised. Bella saw the crazed look in his eyes, and worried for a split second that he was actually going to kill her. Shane seemed to find a moment of clarity though and lowered the gun slowly with a long, drawn out sigh. "What're you doing here, Bella? You shouldn't go sneaking up on a guy with a gun, especially not in a world like this."

Bella's eyes hardened at that statement. "Why? Because there might be an "accident"? Is that what it was going to be for Rick? A hunting accident?" The two stood glaring at each other until Rick walked back up to join them. "There was nothing out there," Rick said as he joined the pair. "Bella, I thought you were resting." Bella didn't dare take her eyes off of Shane so she left Rick's statement unanswered. She didn't have an excuse anyway. She was going to tell Rick the truth when she had the chance, but she couldn't do it with Shane anywhere nearby. Rick didn't know what was going on between the two, but he could practically cut the tension with a knife. "Is everything alright here," Rick asked, his gaze shifting between Bella and Shane.

Shane broke the staring contest and smirked a bit at Rick. "Never better. Bella just came out to join her shift, said she was feelin' better after all. Anyways, we better get back to the group before they get worried." Shane turned on his heel and walked away. Rick looked at Bella who looked pretty rattled. "You sure you're alright? Did Shane do something to you?" Rick asked the second question with a pointed look to the dark bruise on Bella's arm. Bella looked up into Rick's eyes before her gaze shifted back to see Shane waiting up a ways, still well within ear shot. Bella didn't feel like putting herself and Rick in anymore danger than they already were in so she put on a fake smile and said, "Yup. Like Shane said, I was feelin' better and thought I would come out and help since it was my shift and all." Rick noticed that Bella didn't meet his eyes at all as she was saying that. Shane seemed satisfied with what she said but didn't make a move to leave yet, still staring right at Bella. Bella leaned up to give Rick a hug, loudly thanking him for worrying about her, and whispered into his ear so low he almost missed it, "We have to talk later. It's life or death." As soon as the last syllable fell on Rick's ear, she walked past him, grabbing his arm and pulling him along past Shane back to camp.

Bella didn't feel safe until she saw everybody at the camp and she knew at least Andrea and Daryl saw her. The former gave her friend a concerned look and the latter looked a bit confused, but once he saw Shane storming up behind them, he gained a bit more understanding and his gaze darkened. Daryl wasn't gonna tell anybody, but he rather liked Bella. She was a solid fighter, and she wasn't scared to get dirty. He could respect a girl who didn't bat an eye at shooting walkers in the face, and doin' what needed to be done. So when he recognized the fear in Bella's face and the danger in Shane's, Daryl didn't take too kindly to it. He decided then and there that he would keep an eye on her just in case their "esteemed leader" got any more unhinged.

Shane started speaking when he got to the center of the group. "I've, uh, I've been thinking about Rick's plan, and look there're no, uh, no guarantees. Either way, I'll be the first one to admit that. I've known this man a long time. I trust his instincts. I say the most important thing here is we need to stay together. Those of you that agree, we leave first thing in the morning. Ok?"

Bella couldn't help but scoff at his kumbaya bullshit, but she didn't dare show it to the group. She nodded and agreed with everyone else, staying as far away from Shane as possible. Bella went to go pack up her stuff and get it out of Shane's tent. She didn't know where she would sleep that night, but she knew she couldn't stay anywhere near him. Almost as if he knew, Daryl walked up to Bella and said, "You can stay in my tent for the night if you want. Now that Merle's not here, there's plenty of space." Bella's face relaxed in relief. "Thank you, Daryl. You don't know how much that means to me." With a pointed look towards Shane, who was busy playing boss, Daryl said, "I can imagine," before walking off to do whatever a Dixon needed to do to get ready to leave.

Bella didn't know how he figured it out, but right then she knew she could trust Daryl. She hoped that whatever bolt was loose in Shane's brain would get fixed up before they left for the CDC tomorrow. She wasn't sure she'd be able to handle another episode with him, and she sure as hell wouldn't let him get away with hurting Rick. She'd make damn well sure that no one hurt Rick. Ever. Period.


	7. Wildfire (pt 3)

A/NHey y'all. I found some free time and decided to finish up the episode. There's a fair amount of original content in this chapter too, so it's a bit more interesting than just them leaving. If there's anything you all would like to see, or someone alive/dead that you want to be the opposite just let me know. I'm already planning on changing around a few characters fates so I'm open to suggestions about anyone else.

Thank you EverMineEverThine for the review. It is so encouraging to actually see that someone besides me enjoys this story. Thank you to all of the followers and favoriters that are reading this as well. If there's anything that you think should be different, the same, or you just want to say hi, please review and let me know what you think.

Here's the story now.  
Hugs and Kisses. Sarah.

* * *

 **Bella was awoken by a sound coming from outside of her tent. She looked over to find Daryl gone, doing whatever he needed to do. She quickly threw on her jeans, grabbed her knife, and stepped outside, preparing herself for whatever was out there. She circled the tent and its surroundings, making sure there were no walkers around. When she made it back to the tent flap, she was suddenly grabbed and pulled into the tent. One arm wrapped tightly around her waist, and the other went up to cover her mouth. She continued to struggle against the intruder until she heard a familiar voice whisper against her ear. "Bella. Calm down. It's me."**

 **Bella turned around to see Rick, looking a little sheepish. She slapped his arm gently. "What were you thinking, Ricky? I could've killed you! What are you doing here?" Rick stepped back slightly. Avoiding her gaze, he started, "Lori and I split up. We just, couldn't make it work. She kept giving me the feeling that life would've been better for her if I had just stayed dead." Bella nodded in understanding.**

" **But why are you here?" Bella was glad Rick finally saw Lori the way she did, but she didn't know why he had to tell her in the middle of the night. "I needed to see you. I just, ever since I found you in that department store, I've felt this overwhelming urge to be close to you." After that, Rick enveloped Bella in a big, tight hug, pulling her flush against his body. Bella hesitantly wrapped her arms around Rick. She didn't quite know how to react to that. Did he leave Lori for her?**

 **Bella felt Rick pull back slightly. She looked up to see him staring down at her with eyes so full of emotion that Bella felt warm all over. He started to lean down to her, and she closed the space between them. They kissed passionately, years of hidden emotions finally breaking through. They made their way to Bella's cot, Bella laying down with Rick on top. Rick started to kiss his way up and down her body, trying to make up for all of the lost years. As he was kissing her neck, Bella felt a spray of warm liquid cover her torso. Then, Rick's body laid down fully on top of her.**

 **Bella whispered, "Rick? Ricky, are you ok?" She shook him slightly, and when he didn't respond, she pushed him up just enough to see into his lifeless eyes. She pushed him completely off of her before realizing that the warm liquid was in fact blood. She looked up to see Shane in the doorway, bloody knife in hand. He smiled, a slow, sadistic grin before pushing Bella back onto the bed. "I told you to mind your own business…" He climbed on top of her, and Bella screamed.**

Bella woke up to someone shaking her from above. "Damnit Bella, wake up!" She blinked the sleep away from her eyes and looked up. "Daryl?"

"Yeah, it's me. What the hell, Bella? I've been trying to wake you for five minutes! You've been moaning and moving all night." Bella sat up, shaking her head. Daryl looked down at her with something that resembled concern. "Are you alright?"

Bella looked up at him and put on her best smile. "Yeah, it's nothing. Just a nightmare. Sorry I woke you." Daryl looked at her with disbelief before huffing and walking back to his cot. "I'm gonna lay down for a bit. Try not to make me up again." Bella knew she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep at this point so she grabbed her things as quietly as she could and left the tent.

Bella saw Rick exit his tent, and she let out a sigh of relief. She knew it was a only dream, but it was still reassuring to see Rick walking around. Rick walked up to the top of the hill. She figured he was going to contact that Morgan guy again. She still didn't know who he was, but he seemed pretty important to Rick so she hoped he heard Rick's message, if only for Rick's sake.

Bella sat around the fire pit, sharpening her knives while staring at the smoking embers, lost in thought. She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulders. "Sorry, didn't mean to frighten you," Andrea said as she sat down next to Bella. "What's got you so jumpy?"

Bella shrugged. "Nothing, just lost in thoughts is all." Andrea could tell Bella was hiding something, but she wasn't sure if she should push it or not. She personally considered Bella a friend, probably her best friend in this new world, but she wasn't quite sure Bella thought the same. Sometimes Bella could be so hard to read. Before Andrea could ask, Bella gave out a long sigh. "I had a dream last night. About, um, about Rick."

Andrea tried to hide her smile. "What kind of dream?"

"It started out kinda nice. Me and Rick were talking and then doing, uh, other stuff. But then, Rick was dead. And I looked up to see Shane staring down at me, with this look that I don't even know how to describe." Bella turned to Andrea, and Andrea could tell Bella was pretty shaken up. Andrea placed an arm around Bella and pulled her close. Bella was shaking. Andrea said, "Bella, nothing is going to happen to you. I won't let it. You will never have to be alone with him, ever. I didn't know he messed you up that bad. But it's ok because I'm here." Bella nodded but didn't pull away. "Plus, I think Daryl may like you a little too. He barely lets anybody step within 10 feet of his tent, let alone sleep in it. And you know, nobody can mess with a Dixon and get away with it." Andrea kept her arm around Bella until she knew Bella felt better.

Just as the two were pulling away, they heard someone clearing their throat behind them. Andrea turns back to see Shane staring down at the two women. "Everything alright here?" Bella stiffened, but Andrea spoke up. "Yup, just girl talk. Come on, Bella. Let's go get your stuff and put it in the RV." Andrea grabbed Bella's arm and pulled her toward the tent. She could feel Shane's eyes follow them the whole way.

As soon as Andrea and Bella had piled all of Bella's things into the RV, Shane called everyone out to a meeting. "Alright, everybody, listen up. Those of you with CB's, we're gonna be on channel 40. Let's keep the chatter down, ok? Now you got a problem, don't have a CB, can't get a signal, anything at all, you're gonna hit your horn one time and you'll stop the caravan. Any questions?"

Morales spoke up. "We're, uh. We're not going." No one knew what to do. Miranda, Morales' wife, spoke up. "We have family in Birmingham. We want to be with our people."

Shane didn't seem to like that plan. "You're on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your back."

"We'll take the chance. I gotta do what's best for **my** family." Rick spoke up, "You sure?"

"We talked about it. We're sure." Rick responded, "Alright. Shane?" Rick gave a gun and some ammo to Morales, wishing him and his family luck. Bella started to tear up when she saw Sophia and Eliza hug, Eliza giving Sophia her doll. They couldn't revel in goodbyes for long, though, before they heard Shane say, "C'mon. Let's go."

Bella had decided earlier that she didn't want to ride in the RV with a dying Jim. This world was grim enough. However, that didn't leave many options. She stood back, looking aimlessly at everyone climbing into their respective vehicles. Shane looked at her. "You comin' or what?" Bella hesitated to say anything. She didn't want to get left behind but she really didn't want to ride with Shane. "Yeah, she's ridin' with me." Daryl said. "C'mon Bella." Shane seemed angered by that but let it go, hopping into his jeep. Bella climbed into the truck next to Daryl. As everyone started to move out, Bella turned to Daryl. "Thank you." Daryl shrugged. "It's nothin'."

"It's not nothing and you know it. So thank you." The two didn't say anything for a while. The group had to stop soon after they left because the RV's engine started smoking. Shane was looking forward through binoculars. "I see something up ahead. Gas station if we're lucky." Before anyone could decide what to do, Jacqui jumped out of the RV. "Y'all. Jim, it's bad. I don't think he can take anymore."

Shane kept going with his original plan. "Hey, Rick you wanna hold down the fort? I'll drive ahead, see what I can bring back." T-Dog decided to go with Shane.

Rick went in to check on Jim. Bella stepped into the RV behind him. "We'll be back on the road soon."

Jim spoke up, pain clearly written on his face. "Oh no, Christ. My bones, my bones are like glass, every little bump, god. This ride's killin' me. Leave me here. I'm done. Just leave me. I'm gonna be with my family." Jim turned toward the window. Rick knelt down, trying to reason with Jim. Bella stood back, watching the pair with tears in her eyes. She kinda liked Jim. Sure he was a little strange but he was always nice to her. Bella could tell that although Jim had been out of it for a while, right now he knew exactly what he was saying. "My decision, not your failure." And with that, Rick left to talk to the group about what to do. Bella decided to stay inside with Jim. She sat down on the side of the bed cautiously. "Are you sure, Jim? I need you to be completely sure about this." Jim nodded confidently. "I'm sure. This is what I want." Bella leaned forward. "Ok, then. I was just checking. I support your decision." Bella stood to leave, but stopped when she heard Jim speak. "Make sure he doesn't blame himself, Bella. I know he's gonna try and put this on himself, but you have to make sure he doesn't. He trusts you Bella, listens to you. Reassure him that this was my decision entirely and had absolutely nothing to do with him." Bella turned around to face Jim again, tears in her eyes, and nodded. "I will."

Bella came out and heard that everyone was on the same page. Rick and Shane came into help Jim out. They leaned him up against a tree and tried to make him as comfortable as possible. Everyone took turns saying their goodbyes to Jim. Bella went last, Daryl standing a little ways behind her. She knelt down next to Jim and took his hand in hers. "Goodbye, Jim." She gave him a kiss on the cheek. Jim squeezed her hand, as much as he could anyway, and said, "You remember what I told you when you were givin me water before?" Bella nodded. "That's true now more than ever. That man needs you, needs your support. Don't wait until its too late." Bella had started to cry, but Jim was still holding her hand. "Could you, hm, smile for me? Just one last time." Bella nodded and smiled. "You'll be with your family soon enough Jim. Just look up at the pretty sky and think of them."

Bella followed Daryl back to the truck and everyone drove away, sending their last glances to Jim before he disappeared from view.

The ride to the CDC was long and boring. Daryl didn't talk much, and Bella didn't feel much like breaking the silence anyway. But there was something that was bothering her that she had to bring up. "How did you know?" Daryl took his eyes off the road for a second. "Know what?"

"You obviously know that something happened between me and Shane since you keep poppin in at just the right times, but how? Did Andrea tell you?"

"No one had to tell me. I could just tell."

"But how? It doesn't seem like anyone else knows, except maybe Rick but that's only because he's known me and Shane so long."

"I just knew, alright? Let it go."

"Fine, don't tell me. Whatever," Bella huffed and turned to look out the window. Daryl sighed when he saw the expression on Bella's face.

"I saw your face, when you were coming out of the woods with Rick. I saw the fear in your eyes, and the worry. I know Shane's been off for a while and seein him around you confirms it for me. He did something to you; I don't need to know what, I just know that he did." Bella looked at Daryl, slightly stunned. Daryl shifted somewhat uncomfortably but continued. "Whatever he did to you, Bella, he's not doing it again. I won't let him." Bella looked back out the window because she knew that this was new for Daryl. She whispered, "Thank you." They were quiet for the rest of the ride, but Bella didn't care.

They hit a roadblock and everyone got out. Bella nearly gagged at the bodies laid out around them. Flies were surrounding them, but none of them were moving so that was good. Everyone moved as a group toward the main building with their guns raised, just waiting for walkers to appear. Lori and Carol was reassuring Carl and Sophia that everything was going to be ok once they got inside. But their hopes were soon crushed when they came upon the closed doors. T-Dog said, "There's nobody here." Not giving up hope, Rick asked, "Then why are these shutters down?" Bella and Daryl were facing behind when she saw movement heading towards them. Daryl followed her gaze and called out, "Walkers!" The group started to panic as Daryl shot an arrow into the approaching walker's head. Shane rounded on Rick blaming him for putting them into this situation. Rick couldn't give up though, he just couldn't. Bella saw the camera move just as Rick noticed it. Rick started banging on the doors. Everyone started running back, but Bella went to Rick.

"Ricky, please we have to go. Come on, Rick. It's not safe here. Even if someone was in there, they probably aren't going to let us in. They would've done it already. Just c'mon, Rick. Please." Just as Bella had convinced Rick to turn back, the door started to squeak open. Everyone was temporarily blinded by the light shining out of the building. The group stood around, frozen in shock.


	8. TS-19 (pt 1)

A/N Hey everybody! Here's the first part of TS-19. I want to make sure that you all read the last part of wildfire; I had updated pretty lateand I don't remember an email going out so just double check that you read it up until this point. To all the new followers that have picked up this story, the support is amazing motivation. A review isn't too bad either; it may even convince me to write more instead of watch netflix when I feel like procrastinating. :)

Warning about this chapter: those of us who've seen the show (which I assume is everyone on here) know what happens in this episode between certain characters. While it's a little different here, it's just as intense and could be triggering for some people. If you want to avoid that part, stop reading when Bella gets to the library. Nothing graphic happens, but it is pretty bad. I want to make sure everyone stays in a safe mental space while enjoying fanfic.

Also, looking ahead to the future a little bit since Season One is almost over, would you all prefer I just continue into second season here or would you prefer I create a sequel. It doesn't affect anything too much, other than having to come up with another title. Let me know in a review. Unless I hear otherwise, my plan is to just continue it here.

Anyways, just a reminder that any questions, comments, concerns are greatly appreciated. Either pm or review! :)  
Hugs and Kisses. Sarah.

* * *

It took a moment for everyone to realize that the door was actually open. After the initial shock settled down, the group quickly moved into the atrium, guns at the ready for anything they might meet. Rick called out, "Hello? Hello?" No one heard an answer. Everyone was looking around, waiting for something bad to happen. The group heard a gun click and immediately turned to look for the new threat. Bella was surprised to see an older man in a t-shirt and sweat pants who looked like he barely knew how to hold his shot-gun.

"Anybody infected," the man called out. Rick replied, "One of our group was. He didn't make it." The man walked towards the group. "Why are you here? What do you want?"

"A chance." Bella could tell the man was surprised by Rick's answer. She could see that he was considering letting them stay, even if he still wanted to make it hard. "That's asking a lot these days."

"I know." Bella followed the man's eyes as he scanned the group, looking at everyone's face and seeing the fear and the hurt. He paused on Sophia and Carl, before saying, "You all submit to a blood test, that's the price of admission."

Rick nodded. "We can do that."

The man lowered his gun. "You have stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once that door closes, it stays closed. A few of the men in the group headed towards the door. When Bella made to follow, Daryl grabbed her arm and said, "Stay here." Bella huffed in annoyance. "I mean it. These people need protection just as much as the group that's going. I don't trust anyone to do that nearly as much as I trust you." And with that, he left to grab their bags from his truck. Bella sighed; it seemed Daryl was figuring out just what to stay to make her listen to him.

The men ran back into the foyer, and Bella and Dale quickly shut the doors. The man immediately went to the security panel and said, "Vi, seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here."

Rick walked up to the man and introduced himself. The man replied, "Dr. Edwin Jenner. This way, everyone." Dr. Jenner led everyone to an elevator. Bella was surprised when everyone fit in it; however, she did not like that she was wedged into a corner with Daryl standing directly behind her. He looked down at her with a smirk. "Cozy, ain't it?" Bella laughed slightly and moved to elbow him in the stomach. Before she could, he wrapped his arm around her to keep her arms to her side. As she started to squirm, she felt him whisper, "Shh," and indicated his head toward the front of the elevator. She noticed Shane's eyes on the two of them, and quickly looked away. Andrea noticed as well and shifted slightly to stand more in front of the pair.

Shane's eyes left Bella, and Daryl asked, "Doctors always go around packing heat like that?"

Dr. Jenner replied, "Well, there were plenty left lying around. I familiarized myself." He scanned the faces of the group in the elevator again. "But you look harmless enough." He looked down at Carl. "Except you. I'll have to keep my eye on you." Bella smiled at the grin on Carl's face.

The elevator soon stopped and everyone filed out, following Dr. Jenner down a long hallway. Carol asked, "Are we underground?" Dr. Jenner looked back at her. "You claustrophobic?" She replied, "A little."

He kept walking and said, "Try not to think about it." They kept walking in silence. Bella jumped slightly when Dr. Jenner called out, "Vi, bring up the lights in the big room." He turned back around. "Welcome to zone 5."

The large, empty room was a bit disconcerting for Bella. All the empty chairs didn't bode well for a cure. Echoing her thoughts, Rick asked, "Where is everybody? The other doctors, the staff?"

Dr. Jenner stopped walking. "I'm it. There's just me here." Lori spoke up, "What about the person you were speaking with? Vi?" Bella tried hard to restrain her eye roll. She had figured out pretty quickly that Vi was some sort of computer system, like JARVIS from Iron Man. She wasn't that surprised that Lori hadn't figured it out though. Dr. Jenner called out, "Vi. Say hello to our guests. Tell them, welcome."

An artificial voice replied, "Hello guests. Welcome."

Dr. Jenner continued, "I'm all that's left. I'm sorry." Rick looked heartbroken, and Bella's heart nearly broke with it. She knew that he was hoping beyond hope that there would be something good here, if not a cure then a team of highly trained specialists who would know how to prevent it. Dr. Jenner said, "I'll start the blood tests now. Who's first?"

He started with Dale and continued through the group. Bella was dreading the blood tests. She was never a huge fan of needles; some bad experiences in hospitals made sure of that. She didn't really know why he was making them do this. When Andrea asked, Dr. Jenner said that he had already broken the rules by letting them so he might as well be thorough while he's doing it. While Bella understood that, she couldn't help but feel like he was hiding something. Plus, last time she checked, there weren't anymore government agencies that could hold Dr. Jenner accountable for breaking the rules so why bother following them?

It eventually got to Bella's turn. She stepped up and slowly sat down. Dr. Jenner held out his hand to grab her arm and she hesitated. He said, "It's alright. It won't hurt that bad."

Bella responded sheepishly, "I know. I'm just not big with needles. I had some bad experiences before and I've made a conscious effort to avoid them as much as possible since." Dr. Jenner nodded in understanding. "Try to think about something else. Something happy like your boyfriend or something." Bella scoffed in confusion, "Boyfriend? I don't have a boyfriend." Dr. Jenner, who had already put the needle into her arm, looked up in surprise. "Sorry. I thought you and the rugged one were together. You seemed pretty close on the elevator." Bella looked back at Daryl, blushing. "No, we're, uh, just good friends."

Dr. Jenner retracted the needle and put her sample with the others. "Alright, we're all set. That wasn't so bad, was it?"

As she stood up, Bella said, "No, I guess not. Thanks." When she took her first step, Bella felt a little woozy. She sat back down and Dr. Jenner looked at her with concern. "Are you feeling alright?"

Bella nodded. "Yeah, just haven't eaten in a while. None of us have." Dr. Jenner was quiet for a moment when he stood up and helped Bella to her feet. They joined the group and he said, "If you'll all follow me, I'll take you to the kitchen. It's still fully stocked. I'm definitely not going to be able to eat everything by myself." He leaned down to Bella and whispered, "And I know where we hid the wine." Bella laughed and said, "My kinda guy," before following behind him. Shane scowled behind the pair as they left.

A few hours later, everyone sat around at the dining room table. The dinner was delicious and the adults in the room were enjoying their first alcohol buzz in what felt like ages. Even Carl got a sip of wine before he decided it was too gross to keep drinking. Bella was seated between Daryl and Dr. Jenner, and while she liked joking around and flirting with the two men, she could tell that Dr. Jenner was haunted by something. The only person who seemed to be getting less happy with every sip of wine seemed to be Shane; Bella didn't like Shane when he was drunk.

Rick stood up. "It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly." T-Dog raised his glass. "He is more than just our host." Everyone raised a glass to show their appreciation. Bella leaned over to give him a little hug and said, "Thank you." Dr. Jenner seemed to brighten a bit, a little surprised by the kind gesture.

And of course, Shane had to go and ruin it. "So when're you gonna tell us what happened here, Doc? All the, uh, the other doctors. They were supposed to be figuring out what happened. Where are they?"

Bella spoke up. "Damnit Shane. We were celebrating. This can wait."

Shane looked her straight in the eyes. "No it can't. This is why we're here, right? This was Rick's move, supposed to find all the answers instead we, uh, we found him. We found one man. Why?"

Dr. Jenner looked at Bella. She gave him a comforting smile. He turned back to the group. "Well, when things got bad, a lot of people just left, went off to be with their families. And when things got worse, when the military got overrun, the rest bolted."

Shane seemed skeptical. "Every last one?"

Dr. Jenner shook his head. "No. Many couldn't face walking out the door. They opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time."

Andrea looked at him. "You didn't leave. Why?"

"I just kept working, hoping to do some good." Bella could tell he didn't want to talk anymore, and quite frankly, she didn't think he had to. She looked to Shane and said, "Dude, you are such a buzzkill, man."

Shane gave her a look that she couldn't exactly name but it wasn't good. Daryl noticed and turned to Dr. Jenner. "I think we're done. You got a place in mind for us to stay?"

Dr. Jenner took us to the hallway we'd be staying in. He was explaining the couches, where to find the cots if we wanted, where the rec room was, but Bella didn't perk up until he talked about the hot water. She looked at him with an awed expression. "Hot water?" He smiled. "Yup, in every room."

Bella giddily ran to the nearest room to claim. She threw her stuff onto the ground and almost immediately stripped and hopped into the shower. The hot water that ran down her back felt too good for words. It was heavenly. Beyond the dirt and whatever else that flowed off her body down the drain, she could feel a lot of the stress and worry that had been building since this whole thing started slowly melt away. She eventually got out, keeping in mind that the hot water was limited and grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a tank top from her bag.

She brushed her hair and then stepped into the hallway. She almost laughed when she noticed that pretty much everybody had immediately showered as well. As she walked past one of the rooms, she heard gagging. She knocked on the door. "Andrea? Are you ok?" The only response was more gagging. She ran into the room to find Andrea curled over the toilet. She quickly ran over and held Andrea's hair. "Oh, honey. It's ok. Let it all out."

When she finally stopped, Andrea sat back against the wall. Bella soon joined her. Andrea placed her head onto Bella's shoulder. "Everything's gone."

Bella laughed slightly. "Yeah, I kinda figured, the way you were going at it." Andrea sat up and looked Bella in the eyes. "I don't mean the wine, Bella. It's over, there's nothing left. Don't you see that?"

Bella shook her head. "No I don't. This is a chance to make a new start."

Andrea scoffed. "Oh my god, Bella. I thought you of all people would've seen the look on Jenner's face. Listen to what I'm saying: there's nothing left."

Bella reached out to hug her, but Andrea pulled back and stood up. "I think I'm gonna lay down for a little bit." Bella just nodded. Before she shut the door, she turned back. "I'll check in in a while." The only response was silence.

Bella sighed when she stepped out into the hallway. Andrea's comments had unnerved her, and she wanted to check it out for herself. She figured Dr. Jenner would be in the big room from before so she headed that way. When she got there, she realized Rick was in there already. Instead of interrupting, Bella decided to listen in.

"How's the blood?" Rick asked.

Dr. Jenner replied, "No surprises." Bella thought that was an odd way of phrasing that so she filed it away for later.

"I came to thank you."

With a slightly amused voice, Dr. Jenner replied, "You did." Rick sat down suddenly and Bella almost laughed out loud. She couldn't believe how drunk Rick was. "You ok?"

Rick suddenly got serious. "You don't know what it's like. You don't know what it's like out there. You may think you do but you don't. We'd a died out there. It's only a matter of time. There's too many of those things. My boy, my wife, Bella, I never told them what I really thought. Never even hinted, just, just kept it in, kept us moving, just kept it in."

Bella came into the room at that point, distraught by what Rick said. Dr. Jenner turned to her as she knelt down beside Rick and pulled him into a hug. "It'll all be ok. It'll be ok." With the confidence in his voice, Bella couldn't help but believe him. Bella stood up and gave him a hug which he reciprocated immediately. She whispered, "Thank you."

As she pulled away, she thought Dr. Jenner's arms seemed to tighten a bit before pulling away. With a small smile, Bella went over to Rick. "C'mon Ricky. We oughtta get you to bed." Rick leaned heavily on Bella as she walked him back to his room. She knocked on the door. Lori opened it and was surprised to see Bella with Rick. "What's going on?"

Bella smiled. "Ricky here had a bit too much to drink. He was having trouble standing, let alone walking so I figured I would help him back." Lori gave Bella a suspicious look before moving to take Rick from her. "Bella, Carl's in the rec room with Carol and Sophia. Send him back here please, it's time for bed."

Bella replied, "Sure, no problem at all." She walked down the hallway to the rec room and walked in. "Hey Carl. Your mom said it was time for bed. Go on back to the room now." Carl got up and went to the door. "Hey now, I didn't get a goodnight hug." Carl smiled and ran over to give her a big hug before leaving.

Carol smiled. "You're really good with him. He's talked about you a lot since you came back. He looks up to you. You're a good role model." Bella blushed. "Thank you, Carol. That's mighty kind."

Carol replied, "Not kind, just true." Then she and Sophia left with a goodnight. Bella stayed behind and looked at the books. She absolutely loved reading, especially fantasy and mystery novels. She had just spotted a really good one when she jumped at the door slamming behind her. She turned around to see Shane standing in the doorway.

Bella rolled her eyes and said, "Not now, Shane. I'm busy."

"No you ain't. I'm gonna tell you a few things and you're gonna listen to me."

"No I'm not, Shane. I tried to do the whole talking thing before with you and that didn't work out for me so I'm done listening. If this is only gonna work when you want it to, then I don't want it anymore."

"How can you treat me like this?"

Bella looked at him, disbelief etched across her face. "Excuse me? How can **I** treat **you** like this? Get your head out of your ass, Shane." Bella started to walk across the room to the other door. Shane quickly went ahead and closed that one too.

"Do you know what it was like there? Things were falling apart. They were slaughtering people in the hallways. It was a massacre. There were walkers everywhere. Everybody else ran. There were no doctors and it was just me. Rick was hooked up to machines and I did not know what to do. I even took my ear and put it on his chest and I listened for a heartbeat and I did not hear one. And I don't know why, maybe it was gunfire, I don't know what it was, but there was no way he could've survived that. No way. And I had to think of Lori and Carl. I had to get them safe to Atlanta. That was something that I had to do. And I never stopped thinking about you. I never stopped. I wanted to try to find you, I would have if I didn't have Lori and Carl to look after. When I saw how bad it was, I gave up hope. It was better for all of us to think that you and Rick were dead so that we could try to move on. And that's all Lori and I were to each other, rebounds. Please, Bella I love you. I love you so much, I never stopped." During his whole speech, Shane had been getting more erratic, more crazed. Bella backed up until the back of her legs hit a table. She looked up at Shane, fear starting to show in her eyes.

"Shane, I'm sorry that happened to you. I'm sorry you had to make that choice. I probably would've made the same call if I was in your position. And if you think I'm mad at you about that, you're wrong. I'm not even sure I'm mad at you. I'm just done. Maybe it's everything that happened to me since I last saw you, maybe it ain't, but I've outgrown you."

Shane leaned into her, placing his hands on either side of her on the table. "Don't say that. Please don't say that."

Bella put her hands onto Shane's chest and pushed, trying to stop him. Shane moved back for a moment. "When we started whatever this was, I was naïve. I was young. I felt so special that the amazing, older Sheriff's Deputy Shane Walsh had chosen to spend his time with me. I lost my virginity to you, did you know that? You were special to me, Shane, and you had no idea. I know now that it was just in your nature, you couldn't attach yourself to one girl, and before I thought I could be ok with that. But not now. I can't be a second choice now. I don't have the patience or the time. So let me go, Shane, and we can forget this ever happened."

Shane grabbed Bella's face as she tried to leave. "You were special to me too, Bella. You always were." Bella started to struggle more now, hoping to push Shane off since she knew he was drunk, but he wouldn't budge. He leaned in and pressed her into a bruising kiss. "Stop it, Shane. Seriously."

"NO, Bella. I won't stop. I love you. And I know you love me still. You wouldn't have slept with me before otherwise. I felt it Bella, I still feel it. You love me."

Bella cried out, hoping someone would hear her. As much as she could handle herself, she knew she was no match for Shane when he was like this. When she felt his hand go under her shirt, inching towards her pants, Bella struggled harder than she ever had before. She pushed, she kicked, she cried out with all her might.

Shane had managed to push her down onto the table, making to climb on top of her. Just as she thought he had won, the door hurled open and Daryl stood with his crossbow at the ready. Quickly assessing the situation, Daryl walked in and held the bow to Shane's head. "Get off her. Now."

Shane looked back at Daryl. "Get out of here. This doesn't concern you."

"The hell it doesn't. Get off her or I'll shoot." Shane gave one last look to Bella beneath him, probably calculating the likelihood of him being able to overtake Daryl while keeping Bella subdued. Seeing he couldn't win, Shane got off Bella and quickly left the room. Daryl made to follow him, seething, when a small voice called out, "Don't. He's not worth it." Daryl turned back to look at Bella. Her face was puffy from the tears, her tank top out of place and her sweat pants pulled down slightly. Daryl couldn't see any serious damage, but he wanted to be sure. "He didn't hurt you, did he? I mean, other than what he was, uh, gonna do?" Bella shook her head.

Daryl stepped closer to her, and she immediately wrapped him into a long, tight hug. As she started to sob, Daryl put the crossbow down and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm gonna kill him. I'm seriously gonna kill him."

Bella only sobbed more while shaking her head. Daryl got the message. "But not tonight. C'mon, Bells. Let's get you to bed." Daryl walked her back to her room, Bella still sobbing into his shirt. He got her to the couch and tucked her in, sneaking a small kiss to her forehead. As he went to leave her side, Bella grabbed his arm. "Stay. Please."

Daryl nodded. "I was planning on it. I just need to get my crossbow. I'll be back in a minute." Daryl left the room, hoping beyond hope that Shane wasn't out for his sake, and Bella's. Even though he had every intention of killing Shane, he knew that it would only make Bella hurt more. As bad as he'd treated her, Daryl knew Bella still cared about Shane, though he couldn't tell why. He grabbed his crossbow and came back to find Bella crying again.

He put his crossbow down and immediately wrapped Bella in his arms. She curled into him, so he shifted onto the couch and laid down, trying to get both of them as comfortable as he could. The pair soon fell asleep, wrapped up in each other's arms.


	9. TS-19 (pt 2)

A/N Hey y'all! I want to truly and sincerely apologize for how long it's taken me to put this chapter up. College was a bit of a struggle this past month, plus this chapter was giving me a bit of trouble. I wasn't quite sure where I wanted this part of the episode to end, but midterms are over so I figured I'd give you all what I got to celebrate. :)

In response to angelgobad05's review, I know right! And we're gonna see even more Daryl/Bella bonding in this chapter as well as a little peek into what's going on in Rick's head right now. A note on Daryl, I hope you guys don't think he's too out of character. We all know he's really a big teddy bear; we see it later on with baby Asskicker. I always figured Daryl just needed someone to pull that side out of him. Right now, that person is Bella. I just love the way their relationship is shaping up. Also, Shane's an ass. But we obviously knew that.

Anyways, on with the next installment. Hopefully, you won't have to wait so long for the next chapter but we'll have to see. Sorry I can't give you guys anything more specific than that, but her? It's college. And please review, even if its just to complain about how long I'm taking. Any little bit of motivation helps.

Hugs and Kisses! Sarah :)

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Daryl awoke the next morning with a groan. His back was killing him, and his left arm was completely asleep. He was about to stretch out and stand up when he registered the weight on his shoulder, and he suddenly remembered what happened last night. _Everything_ that happened last night. He resisted the urge to growl, deciding that the girl whose legs were currently tangled up with his deserved to sleep as long as she could. After what that bastard did to her, he'd stay all day with her if it meant she could have a moment of peace.

Daryl was a little surprised that he cared so much about a woman he had essentially just met. He didn't quite know how she was able to affect him so much in the little time they had known each other, but thinking about what she went through made his chest feel tight and his fists clench in anger. He knew he wasn't into her romantically or anything, she was way too similar to him for that; she felt more like a sister than anything else.

Daryl allowed himself a full blown smile then. He had always wanted a sister. Sure, Merle was great; well, not great but at least he was always there, but he couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like if he had had a sister, someone who was always there to comfort him and give him just a little bit of sunshine in all of that darkness. He realized that what he went through, the hell that his dad put him through, was probably why he cared so much about Bella so quickly. He immediately registered the fear and worry in her eyes when she was around Shane, recognizing it from how he had felt before. He resolved in that moment that he would never, ever let Shane or anyone else hurt Bella again. She was an honorary Dixon now and he was gonna make damn well sure that everyone knew it.

Unbeknownst to Daryl, he had accidentally let a growl slip out, causing Bella to wake up immediately, though she didn't move. She still couldn't completely understand what happened to her last night, what Shane almost did. She knew Shane was different than before, that this world had changed him but she never would've thought in a million years that he could be pushed to something like _that_. She subtly looked up at the man who saved her last night. Bella's brow furrowed as she tried to figure out why Daryl had been so quick to help her the past few days. They barely said two words to each other before, except for the occasional flirt or insult, but after the incident in the woods he was suddenly her knight in shining armor. She wanted to ask why he helped her, why he cared, but she was scared. Bella knew he wasn't the touchy-freely type and she was worried she'd ask too much and he'd leave. She felt safe with him and she didn't want anything to jeopardize that.

Daryl looked down and saw that Bella was awake and wearing a heavy frown on her face. He hated that look on her, she was supposed to be so much sunnier than that. "Morning," Daryl groaned out, finally able to stretch after Bella removed herself from his side. Bella smiled slightly at his gruff morning voice. She found it kind of sexy but she also knew that she just didn't think of him that way. Her smile slipped away as she thought she might never be able to allow herself to feel that way for someone again. If ending a fling caused someone to react like Shane, Bella wasn't sure she'd be able to give any more of herself to someone else ever again.

Daryl noticed the frown return and adopted a look of concern. "Bella, are you alright? Do you wanna, um, talk about it or something?" Daryl grimaced at the sneer on Bella's face. He knew she was putting up a strong front, and he wished she didn't feel like she needed to.

"What's there to say? Shane and I had a thing a while ago, like way before all this, but it was never quite right. I was too young and stupid to see him as anything other than the amazing older guy who took my virginity. I went to DC for an internship that turned into a job, and we just kinda left things. When I saw him again that first day, I couldn't help but feel like that naïve girl again. I thought I'd changed but I was just as stupid as before. I mean, I should've gotten a clue immediately when he jumped at sharing a tent with me. Weren't many other options, though, so I went along with it. He tried to start something the first night, but I managed to calm him down and we just slept. I foolishly thought it would stay like that; that I'd be able to handle him. But after that fight with Ed, he wouldn't take no for an answer. He didn't even ask, just started stripping. I was too shocked to fight him off, maybe I was still a little scared that he would leave. I had been on my own so long, I didn't want to be alone again. The next day, he tried to apologize but I didn't want it. It happened; I just wanted to forget it and move on. But I said the wrong thing, and he got angry. In the woods, he, uh, almost killed Rick and when I found him, I swear it looked like he was gonna kill me too. But last night was new. I had never seen him like that, so crazed, goin on and on about how he thought Rick was dead and he loved me. He thought **I** was treating **him** poorly, like I did something wrong. Me and my quick temper fought back and then, well…" Bella's voiced died out then. Daryl had listened for all of it, not interrupting in case she'd get scared and stop. Hearing all of it made his chest hurt even more than before. He started clenching and unclenching his fists, itching to pay Shane back for all the hurt he's caused Bella.

Bella felt incredibly uncomfortable. She'd just wanted to explain it a bit; she didn't mean to launch into the whole tragic saga. Oversharing had never been her thing. Sure, she would freely give her love and trust to anyone really, but her secrets were always **her** secrets. Bella got up and started changing, not caring that Daryl was in the room. Daryl sensed she didn't like sharing too much personal stuff, especially not stuff as dark as this. He couldn't help but feel like he should reciprocate, show her that he was gonna give as much as he got.

"My dad used to beat me." Bella turned around shocked, halfway through putting on her tank top. With wide eyes, she whispered, "What?" Daryl sighed. He wasn't gonna get into the nitty-gritty but he wanted to give her something. "When I was younger, he used to hit me, with pretty much whatever he got his hands on. I was a mama's boy, I'll admit, and after my mom died, I guess dad didn't take that too well. And it was always me, never Merle. I figured he knew Merle would fight back. For some reason, I couldn't. Merle would try to patch me up after best he could but that was pretty much my childhood up until dad died too. Then it was just me and Merle." He looked up to find Bella directly in front of him, holding back tears. He stood up quickly and wrapped her in a huge hug, pouring all the love and comfort he wished he'd gotten into it.

After a minute or so, the pair broke apart and Bella quickly wiped her eyes. Putting on a brave face, she looked him straight in the eye and said, "Let's go." Daryl shook his head, smiling a little at how strong the young woman in front of him was. "Hold on a minute. How're you gonna play this? I'll support you completely if you wanna confront him."

Bella shook her head vehemently. "No, I just want to ignore it as best I can. No reason to put unnecessary strain on the group. I'm a big girl, I can handle it. I'll just avoid him as much as possible." Daryl chuckled at the "big girl" bit. He wasn't sure he agreed with her choice, but he'd respect it. He headed towards the door and turned back to Bella. "Alright, Lil Dix, you ready for breakfast?"

Bella's face scrunched in confusion at the name as she walked past him into the hallway. "Lil Dix?"

"Little Dixon. I've kinda always wanted a little sister. That ok?" Bella grinned, Daryl's heart lifting at the bright sight. "I've always wanted a big brother!" She nearly squealed as she grabbed his hand and ran down the hallway to the kitchen.

Bella and Daryl walked in and sat down next to each other at the table. "Morning," Bella greeted, trying her best to be cheerful. She laughed when Glenn's reply was a loud groan. Obviously, hangovers did not agree with him. Rick walked in, looking a little rough around the edges. He sauntered up to the table with a more sober "Morning," than Bella's. Carl blurted out, "Are you hungover? Mom said you'd be."

Rick sighed. "Mom is right." Lori quipped, "Mom has that annoying habit." T-Dog walked out from the kitchen with eggs that Bella and Daryl happily accepted. Glenn did not look happy to be anywhere near food at that moment though. Bella noticed some aspirin on the table and smiled when she heard that Dr. Jenner had been considerate enough to share that with them.

Glenn moaned, "Don't ever, ever, ever let me drink again." Bella couldn't help but reply, "But what would be the fun in that?" Glenn glared at her before groaning again and laying his head down onto the table.

Bella's good mood was instantly shattered when Shane walked into the room with an unaffected "Hey." Rick looked up and replied, "Hey. You feel as bad as I do?" Bella subconsciously reached out and grabbed Daryl's hand, something that Andrea instantly noticed. Andrea felt bad for what she said to Bella last night, and she was worried when Bella didn't check on her like she said she would. She was about to smile, thinking that if something happened with her and Daryl she could forgive her for not coming back, but when she saw Daryl bristle at Shane's reply to Rick, she figured something else had happened last night.

T-Dog asked, "What the hell happened to you? Your neck?" Bella looked up directly at Shane and noticed three large scratch marks on the side of his neck. She couldn't help but feel a little bit of pride for marking him, but she was mostly worried that he would say something about what happened. She knew he wouldn't admit what he tried to do to her, but that didn't mean he couldn't try to make up some other story about how he got them.

"Must've done it in my sleep." Rick looked up, "Never seen you do that before." Shane gave a very pointed look to Bella, who met his eyes quickly before looking away again. "Me neither. Not like me at all." Daryl was trying as hard as he could to restrain himself from leaping over the table and tackling Shane to the ground. The only thing truly holding him back was Bella, who was slowly but surely strangling the life out of his hand.

Daryl squeezed her hand back for a moment to let her know how strong her grip was. Bella instantly let go and looked at him with a sheepish smile. He could see the uncertainty in her eyes, and as he was about to ask if she wanted to leave, Dr. Jenner walked in.

"Morning," he called out to the group. Everyone replied with a similar greeting. Bella grabbed Daryl's hand again and leaned into his side. Dale called out, "Doc, I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing…"

Dr. Jenner replied, "But you will anyway." Andrea was tired of waiting for something to happen so she spoke up. "We didn't come here for the eggs." The breakfast that Bella was enjoying before suddenly got very tense. Dr. Jenner turned around to look at the group, his eyes resting on Bella for a moment, noticing her downtrodden look and reddened eyes, before making the decision. "Follow me," was all he said, and the group hurried after him.

Rick saw Bella stick to Daryl's side like glue. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly at the pair; they seemed to have become inseparable overnight. He wasn't going to tell anybody, but Rick had woken up early that morning with the inexplicable urge to see Bella. He knew that she had been with him during his outbursts with Dr. Jenner, and that she was the one who had helped him back to his room when he was too drunk to see straight. He had convinced himself that the only reason he wanted to see Bella was to thank her for taking care of him, but that didn't explain the searing pain he felt in his chest when he had opened the door to her room only to find her tangled up with Daryl, the two holding onto each other for dear life. He had no idea why it hurt him so much to see them together, but he hated the feeling.

He just wanted everything to go back to the way it was before, when he had Carl and Lori _and Bella_ all to himself. When Shane wasn't on some power trip, and Lori didn't look at him like he'd ruined her life. He knew how useless his desires were, though; the world was the way it was. None of his wishes and hopes would ever be able to change that.


	10. TS-19 (pt 3)

A/N Hi everybody, I'm sorry that it's taken so long for me to update. Being busy is a sorry excuse, but it's the truth. It takes a lot of time to transform these episodes and I couldn't find it until now. Hope you all enjoy it though.

Thank you to EverMineEverThine, aishiteru naru, and shika93 for the reviews. They mean so much to me. And thank you to all of the new followers and favorites. I truly appreciate your support. I can say that you will definitely not have to wait as long for the next chapter because school is almost over. I'll have almost a full two weeks with nothing to do so I'll be able to get some writing done, maybe even work ahead so that all I'll have to is upload instead of write during the start of next semester. That should help get these out quicker.

This is the end of season 1. Next chapter starts season 2. We'll see how Bella will change things then. I can't wait! Hugs and Kisses. Sarah

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The group made it to the computer room. Dr. Jenner hit a button on a computer and commanded, "Give me playback on TS-19." Everyone looked up to the images that were appearing on the large screen before them. Dr. Jenner continued, "Few people ever got a chance to see this. Very few." Rick moved closer to the front and Shane seemed to hover towards the back of the group, his eyes finding Bella every few seconds before looking away again.

Carl broke the silence, "Is that a brain?" Dr. Jenner explained, "An extraordinary one, not that it matters in the end. Take us in for the IV." VI responded to the command. No one quite knew what they were seeing. Bella figured they were seeing brain activity of some sort; she just couldn't figure out why. She jumped when she heard Shane ask, "What're those lights?" She hadn't realized how close he'd gotten to her without her knowing. She quickly shifted to the other side of Daryl, hoping Shane didn't notice. But he did.

"The person's life. Experiences, memories, it's everything. Somewhere in all that organic wiring, all those ripples of light, is you. The thing that makes you unique and human."

Daryl spoke up, clearly confused but trying to understand. "You don't make sense, ever?"

Bella nudged him so he'd look at her. "Those are synapses. They're electric impulses that carry all the messages."

Dr. Jenner nodded at her, a little impressed, before continuing. "They determine everything a person says, does, or thinks from the moment of birth – to the moment of death."

Rick spoke up. "Death? That's what this is, a vigil?" Bella scowled slightly at his callousness. Just because Dr. Jenner wasn't actively fighting the monsters outside doesn't mean he wasn't allowed to have his own demons.

"Yes. Or, rather, the playback of the vigil."

Andrea quickly understood, but wanted to confirm. "This person died? Who?"

"Test subject nineteen. Someone who was bitten and infected and volunteered to have us record the process. Vi, scan forward to the first event." Bella watched as the images moved forward. She watched as the black tendrils spread throughout the brain, as the skeletal jaw started thrashing with what she assumed was pain. She didn't care about the technical talk anymore, she knew enough about what was happening on the screen and it scared her way more than the undead crazies outside. She started to tear up as she watched all of the lights in the brain die off.

Bella noticed how hard Andrea was taking this. She went to her and wrapped her arm around Andrea's shoulder, comforting her the best she could. At Dr. Jenner's questioning look, Bella explained, "She lost somebody two days ago. Her sister."

Dr. Jenner nodded in understanding and walked towards them. "I lost somebody too. I know how devastating it is." Bella met his eyes and saw the immeasurable pain reflected in his eyes. After a moment, Dr. Jenner turned towards the screen again. "Scan to the second event." All eyes turned to the screen as they watched light return to the dark brain. "The resurrection times vary wildly. We have reports of it happening in as little as three minutes. The longest we heard of was eight hours. In the case of this patient it was two hours, one minutes, seven seconds."

"It restarts the brain," Lori asked.

"No, just the brain stem. Basically, it gets them up and moving."

Rick interjected, "But, they're not alive."

Dr. Jenner challenged, "You tell me."

"It's nothing like before. Most of that brain is dark."

"Dark, lifeless, dead. The frontal lobe, the neocortex, the human part, that doesn't come back, the you part. Just a shell driven by mindless instinct." Bella looked on with horror as a force ripped through the brain, slicing the image completely.

Carol exclaimed, "God, what was that?"

Andrea spoke up, "He shot his patient in the head." She turned to Jenner. "Didn't you?"

Instead of responding, Dr. Jenner simply powered down the room. Andrea didn't feel like letting go though. Her pain was still too raw, her questions couldn't be left unanswered any longer. "You have no idea what it is, do you?"

"It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal."

Jacqui interjected, "Or the wrath of God?"

Dr. Jenner conceded. "There is that."

Andrea wouldn't let up. "Somebody must know something. Somebody, somewhere."

"There may be some. People like me."

Bella could see Rick getting agitated. "You don't know? How can you not know?"

"Everything went down. Communications, directives, all of it. I've been in the dark for almost a month."

Andrea spoke up again. "So it's not just here. There's nothing left anywhere. Nothing. That's what you're really saying, right?" Dr. Jenner gave no response and no one else knew quite what to say either. Bella wasn't sure how to feel; she wanted to keep up hope, but if there was literally nothing left then how could she.

Daryl said, "Man, I'm gonna get shitfaced drunk, again." Bella wanted to agree. If they were going to spend the rest of their time there then they might as well try and enjoy themselves in the process.

"Dr. Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you, and I hate to ask one more question, but that clock. It's counting down. What happens at zero," Dale asked.

Dr. Jenner hesitated. "The basement generators run out of fuel." Bella did not like how he said that. She had to ask, "And then?" Dr. Jenner did not answer, but he met her eyes as he walked out. Rick had to know. "Vi, what happens when the power runs out?"

"When the power runs out, facility wide decontamination will occur." Bella's eyes widened. She met Rick's gaze and saw her own fear reflected in his. "Maybe someone should go check them out? The rest of us could start packing up our stuff. There's no point in staying here if there isn't going to be any power," Bella proposed. Rick nodded his agreement. "You're right. Shane, T-Dog, Glenn, you'll come with me to check the power. Everyone else pack up and start sorting out the food. Take only what we need, there's no reason to let Jenner starve." The groups split then.

Bella and Daryl hurried out of the room to pack up their things. "I don't like this. I don't like it one bit," Daryl said. "Decontamination? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Bella shrugged, preparing to respond when she froze. She looked up at Daryl, her eyes wide. "The CDC deals with deadly diseases, right? Things that are only contained when the power is on. If the power runs out, they run the risk of releasing the pathogens to the general population. There must be a plan in place to make sure that can't happen."

"What do you mean, Bella? What do you thinks going to happen?" Instead of responding, Bella ran out of the room, searching for Dr. Jenner. She found him in an office, holding a picture frame. He was saying something when she entered. He stood up, but continued. "We always think there's going to be more time… then it runs out."

Bella asked, "Dr. Jenner, something's going to happen to the facility when the power runs out completely. Something bad, right?" He turned to her, tears in his eyes. "What's going to happen?"

Dr. Jenner put his lab coat on. He looked her in the eyes and said, "Follow me." The pair walked into the hallway. Everyone started asking questions about the lights and the air. No one knew what was going on, and Dr. Jenner gave no answers, not until Rick showed up.

"The system is dropping all nonessential uses of power. It's designed to keep the computers running to the last possible second. That started as we approached the half hour mark. Right on schedule." Dr. Jenner took a long swig from the bottle of alcohol he had picked up along the way before handing it off to Daryl. He turned to Andrea. "It was the French."

Andrea looked at him, confused. "What?"

"They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know. While our people were bolting out the doors and committing suicide in the hallways, they stand in the labs till the end. They thought they were close to a solution."

Jacqui asked, "What happened?"

"The same thing that's happening here. No power grid. Ran out of juice. The world runs on fossil fuels, I mean how stupid is that?"

Shane grew angry. "Let me tell you-"

Rick interrupted him. "To hell with it, Shane. I don't even care. Everybody grab your stuff. We're getting out of here now." Just as everyone started moving to grab their bags, a loud alarm starting blaring.

"What's that," Carl asked. Vi responded, "Thirty minutes to decontamination."

Daryl called out, "Doc, what's going on here?"

Shane responded, "Everybody, y'all heard Rick. Get your stuff and let's go. Go now. Go!" Bella watched in horror as the doors to the hallways closed. She turned to Dr. Jenner, fear written on her face. Dr. Jenner spared a glance at her before sitting down at a computer. "What did you do?"

Daryl rushed towards the doctor. "You son of a bitch! You locked us in here!" He continued to yell out, even as Shane and T-Dog carried him away.

Bella turned back to the doctor. "Open the doors, Doc. Now."

He replied, "There's no point. Everything's locked down topside. The emergency exits are sealed."

She replied, "So open them."

Dr. Jenner shook his head. "That's not something I can control. The computers do. I told you, once that front door closed it wouldn't open again. You heard me say that."

Bella said, "We didn't know you meant forever." Tears started to form in her eyes. Dr. Jenner sighed. "It's better this way."

Rick wasn't having any of that. "What is? What happens in 28 minutes?" Dr. Jenner didn't respond so Rick asked again. "What happens in 28 minutes?!"

Dr. Jenner snapped. "Do you know what this place is? We protected the public from very nasty stuff! Weaponized smallpox! Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out, EVER!" Dr. Jenner took a deep breath and sat back down. Bella was finding it hard to catch her breath. She was right. She didn't want to believe it before, but she knew now that everything was going to be destroyed. Including them.

Dr. Jenner continued. "In the event of a catastrophic power failure, in a terrorist attack, for example, H.I.T.s are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out."

Rick asked, "H.I.T.s?"

"Vi, define," Dr. Jenner called out.

"H.I.T.s. High-impulse thermobaric fuel-air explosives consist of a two stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power than any other known explosive except nuclear. The vacuum pressure effect ignites the oxygen between 5,000 and 6,000 degrees and is useful when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired."

Dr. Jenner translated, "It sets the air on fire. No pain. An end to sorrow, grief, regret, everything."

Everyone responded differently to the news. Daryl and some of the others got obviously, violently angry. They even tried to break it down. Bella saw the kids crying with their moms' arms wrapped tightly around them. Bella's heart was breaking at the fact that she wouldn't have the chance to even try to find her sister and father. Her hope was slipping further and further away from her and her chest ached.

Dr. Jenner looked up at her. "You should've left well-enough alone. It would've been so much easier."

Lori replied, "Easier for who?"

"All of you. You know what's out there. A short brutal life and an agonizing death." He turned to Andrea. "Your sister, what was her name?"

"Amy."

"Amy. You know what this does. You've seen it." He turned to Rick. "Is that really what you want for your wife and son?" He looked at Bella, but continued addressing Rick. "For Bella?"

Rick replied angrily, "I don't want this."

Shane joined the group, out of breath from his effort with the doors. "Can't make a dent."

"Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher."

Daryl replied, "Well, your head ain't!" He started to swing the ax in his hand as the others tried to stop him. Bella instinctively flinched towards the doctor since she was sitting next to him.

Dr. Jenner turned to her. "You do want this. Last night, you heard what Rick said. You both knew it was just a matter of time before everybody you loved was dead." Rick looked at Bella quickly before turning his gaze to Lori and Carl. Shane and Lori both noticed and frowned.

Shane asked, "What? You really said that? After all your big talk?"

Rick replied, "I had to keep hope alive, didn't I?"

"There is no hope. There never was," Dr. Jenner pleaded with Rick to understand. Bella stood up in front of him. "There's always hope. Maybe it won't be you, maybe not here, but somebody, somewhere…"

Andrea interrupted, "What part of 'everything's gone' do you not understand?"

Dr. Jenner replied, "Listen to your friend. She gets it. This is what takes us down. This is our extinction event."

Carol cried out, "This isn't right. You can't just keep us here."

"One tiny moment, a millisecond. No pain."

Carol continued, "My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this."

"Wouldn't it be kinder, more compassionate to just hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run down?" Bella could not believe what she was hearing. However, she knew that her issue with this situation was not the death itself, but the fact that he took their choice away from them, from her. She had promised herself that she wouldn't let anyone do that to her again. She couldn't let this be how she died. She was about to respond when she turned at the sound of a gun cocking. She saw Shane barreling towards the doctor, his intent clear. Rick tried to stop him, but it wasn't working. Bella made a split second decision and stepped in front of Shane.

"Stop, Shane. This isn't the way. If you do this, we'll never get out of here." To her surprise, Lori spoke up in support. "Shane, you listen to her."

"He dies, we all die. SHANE!" Shane turned his gun and shot into the computers over Dr. Jenner's shoulder. Bella flinched at the noise. Rick rushed over to disarm Shane. "You done now? Are you done?"

Shane replied, "Yeah, I guess we all are." Rick looked around at the group, reading everyone's faces. His eyes landed on Bella's last, and she could see the resolve in them. "I think you're lying. About no hope. If that were true, you'd have bolted with the rest or taken the easy way out. You didn't. You chose the hard path. Why?"

Dr. Jenner answered, "It doesn't matter."

Bella replied, "Of course, it matters. It always matters. You stayed when everyone else didn't. Why?"

He met her eyes. "Not because I wanted to. I made a promise to her. My wife."

Lori pointed out, "Test subject 19 was your wife."

"She begged me to keep going as long as I could. How could I say no? She was dying. It should've been me on that table, it wouldn't have mattered to anybody. She was a loss to the world. Hell, she ran this place, I just worked here. In our field, she was an Einstein. Me, I'm just Edwin Jenner. She could've done something about this. Not me."

"Your wife didn't have a choice. You do. That's all we want. A choice, a chance," Rick pleaded.

Dr. Jenner sighed. "I told you topside's locked down. I can't open those." He walked over to a control panel on the table and punched in a code. The door opened and Daryl called out, "Come on!" Everyone started yelling out, running to collect their things and get out. Rick and Bella held back.

"There's your chance. Take it."

"I'm grateful," Rick replied.

"The day will come when you won't be."

Bella asked, "What do you mean?"

Dr. Jenner shook both of their hands before pulling them in close, whispering in their ears. Bella pulled back, terrified of what he told them. She looked at Rick, who shared her look of fear, before Lori came over and pulled him away.

Bella looked up to see Jacqui say, "No, no I'm staying. I'm staying, sweetie."

T-Dog responded, "But that's insane!"

"No, it's completely sane, for the first time in a long time. I'm not ending up like Jim and Amy. There's no time to argue and no point. Just get out. Get out." She walked back down the ramp.

Bella turned back to see Andrea standing around. She said, "I'm staying, too." Dale replied, "Andrea, no!"

Bella noticed the group hesitating in the doorway. She turned to them all, "Just go, go!" Rick hesitated, meeting her gaze before nodding and pulling Lori along. Dale looked at her, and see nodded as well. "We'll be right there." He left with one last look to Andrea.

Bella walked over to Andrea and kneeled down in front of her. "Andrea, you know Amy wouldn't want this. You know she'd want you to live for as long as you could."

Andrea shook her head, "Amy's dead. And you need to leave." Bella shook her head. "No, Andrea think about this. Please. We need to go. Amy would want you to live. Dale wants you to live. I need you to live." Andrea met her eyes. Bella started to sob. "I need you, Andrea. Please, I can't do this without you. I can't handle Shane, and Rick, and my sister, I can't handle any of this, without you. Please. Please," Bella pleaded with her. Andrea stared once more before she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around Bella. "Ok," Andrea conceded. "Ok, let's go." They both stood up. As they were leaving, Bella felt someone grab her arm. She looked back at Dr. Jenner. "Are you sure? We both know what's out there."

Bella nodded with conviction. "Yes, I'm sure. It was nice to meet you, but we have to go."

Bella and Andrea ran out of the room and up the stairs as fast as they could. When they got to the lobby, Bella noticed a giant hole in the wall and pulled Andrea over to it. "Come on, we don't have much time left, we have to find a place to hide from the blast."

Bella could see the cars and they both pushed themselves to go faster. They made it to a pile of sandbags and ducked down. After the blast, the pair stood up and ran. Andrea hopped into the RV but Bella ran to Daryl's truck.

After the group left the area, Daryl spoke. "What were you thinking? What the hell were you thinking?"

Bella could hear the pain in his voice, the fear. Bella turned to him, tears reappearing in her eyes. "I need her, Daryl. I can't do this without her. Without you both. I can't handle this without you guys." Bella tried to continue but her voice broke. Daryl reached out a hand and grabbed hers, squeezing it in reassurance. They didn't say anything after that, just held hands. Even without words, Bella knew that they were both thinking the same thing. _What now?_


	11. What Lies Ahead (pt 1)

A/N Happy New Year everybody! Hope you all had a fabulous holiday, whichever you may have celebrated. Sorry it's taken a little while, but I figured what better way to celebrate the new year than with a new chapter, and the start of season 2 no less.

A very big welcome and thank you to the new followers and favorites on this story. Honestly, seeing those emails just makes me so incredibly happy and even more determined to find the time to write this story for you. I hope you all like this and I'm already working on the next part so it shouldn't be too long before that's up. Please review and let me know what you think, good bad or ugly. :)

Hugs and Kisses everybody! Sarah.

P.S. I apologize in advance to any Lori lovers. I kind of hated her character a lot and that is very obvious in this chapter, and going on with the story. Season 2 is very eventful for Bella, and unfortunately, Lori negatively impacts a large portion of that. Anyways... let's get to it.

* * *

The group stopped in a quiet neighborhood. After a quick sweep of the area, everyone got out to stretch their legs. Some people started siphoning gas while others concentrated on getting comfortable for the long ride ahead. Bella leaned her back against the truck, watching the group go about their business. It was deemed unnecessary and unrealistic to continue driving all of the vehicles so they wouldn't have the truck for much longer. She saw Andrea standing by herself near the RV, and walked to her.

"Hey, Andrea. Can we talk," Bella asked. Andrea nodded in response and moved away from the group. Bella continued, "I wanted to check in with you, see how you're doing. I can't imagine how you're feeling right now. I just, I don't want you to think that I took away your choice back there. That wasn't my intention; I wanted to convince you, not force you. I need you, Andrea. I really do."

Andrea sighed. "I'm not mad Bella. You were right. Amy would want me to keep going. It was just so hard to think of a world without Amy. I didn't have anyone left to fight for, but you helped me realize that that's not true. I have you, and I'm not leaving. I made that mistake with Amy, but I'm not going to do that with you. We've barely met and already you feel like a part of my family. I need you just as much as you need me. Trust me, I'm good, we're good. Ok?" Bella nodded and the women hugged.

Daryl rode his brother's motorcycle forward, stopping next to the pair. "We're getting ready to head out. You riding with me or squeezing in somewhere else," he asked Bella. Bella looked back and watched Carol, Sophia, Rick and his family climb into Carol's car. That would be a tight squeeze at best, incredibly uncomfortable at worst. Bella watched as Shane climbed into the RV and shuddered. Andrea noticed and said, "Why don't you go ahead and ride with Daryl? I'll ride in the RV." Bella smiled at her before climbing onto the back of the bike.

Daryl twisted slightly to look at her. "Have you ever ridden one of these before?" Bella nodded. She shrugged in response to Daryl's look of surprise. "I may have ridden one once or twice with a guy I used to date." At Daryl's skeptical look, Bella sighed. "Fine, I rode a police motorcycle once, but Rick stopped me before I left the parking lot." Daryl chuckled. "Alrighty, then. This'll be fun." And they headed out toward the highway.

Rick watched Bella climb onto the back of Daryl's motorcycle. He knew there wasn't a whole lot of space in the car, but he still would've preferred her in the car with hi-, them. _They don't even have helmets. What if something happened?_ Rick couldn't admit, even to himself, that he didn't like Bella riding with Daryl because he was jealous. He was jealous of what he thought was happening between the two, and he wasn't sure how to handle it. He glanced over at Lori, who was looking at him with a scowl. He asked, "What?" Lori shook her head. "Nothing." And Rick looked back at the road, hoping that things would be better. It couldn't possibly get any worse.

Shane was equally disturbed by Bella's mode of transportation. He had hoped with the downsizing that she would be forced to ride in the RV with him. He would sit with her and talk about what happened, make her understand. He hadn't wanted to hurt her; she just wasn't listening to him and it made him a little crazy. Her relationship with Daryl was making her confused, that's all. Plus, Shane had caught Rick looking at her numerous times. Something was going on between the two and he wanted to find out what. Shane thought she was such a hypocrite, calling him out on his relationship with Lori when she was going around with Rick behind both of their backs. He was going to show her where she belonged, one way or another.

* * *

Daryl and Bella enjoyed a comfortable silence as the wind whipped their hair around. They slowed as they came upon an overturned semi on the highway. Bella asked, "What should we do?"

Daryl responded, "Let's check it out. See if there's a safe way to get them around it." Bella shrugged and said, "Ok." They creeped forward, wary of the seemingly abandoned cars on the road. Bella shifted slightly to get a hold of the knife she had tucked in the back of her pants, just in case. Once they found a suitable enough route, without encountering any walkers, Daryl turned around, pulling up next to the RV.

Dale stuck his head out and asked, "See a way through?" Daryl nodded, indicating that he should follow. Bella did not like how these cars looked. Somehow, some way, all of these people had died. She was broken from her thoughts when she heard a loud whistling coming from behind her. They stopped and dismounted. She heard Dale say, "I said it. Didn't I say it? A thousand times; dead in the water."

Shane joined him. "Problem Dale?"

"Just a small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope of… ok, that was dumb." Bella and Daryl had started going through the car next to them, seeing what could be used and what should be left behind. Everyone else started thinking of things to look for, gas, food, water.

Lori protested, "This is a graveyard." Everyone paused to look at her. "I don't know how I feel about this." No one seemed to know how to respond so Bella spoke up. "I understand, Lori. I feel it too. But these people are dead. There's no point in chancing us dying when there's perfectly good supplies here going to waste. We can look for what we need, but be respectful when we do it." Lori looked at her, annoyed that she spoke against her. She turned to Rick, expecting him to support her. When he didn't, she huffed and walked away.

Bella walked over to Andrea as they started looking through the open trunk of a hatchback. "So how was the RV," Bella asked. Andrea shrugged. "Honestly, not that bad. Definitely not as bad as I thought it could be, especially if you had been in there too. Shane was mostly quiet, but he did teach me how to clean my gun. Right before we stopped, it seemed like he was going to ask me about you, but he never got around to it. What happened between you two anyway? I mean, other than what you've already told me."

Bella shielded her eyes from the sun and looked around, searching for how close Shane was. She didn't want to talk about it if he was close. He was a few cars away, but Bella could tell he could hear everything they were saying by the way he kept himself oriented in their direction. Bella leaned over and whispered, "Later."

Shane called out, "Bella, Andrea, get over here. I found water." Bella and Andrea shared a wary look but headed over anyway. Before they could get their first sip, Shane pulled them and Glenn underneath the truck. Bella looked out in fear as she watched the herd approach. Tears formed in her eyes, but she tried to stay as silent as possible. She had no idea where Daryl was, and she was worried about Carl and Sophia. They should not have to deal with this right now. They're too young.

It seemed to take forever for the herd to pass. When it seemed like all of them were gone, they started to slowly climb out from underneath the truck. They rushed over to the group when they heard Carol's cries. Shane asked, "What happened? What's going on?"

Lori comforted a weeping Carol. "Sophia got out too quick. There were some walkers left; they found her so she took off into the woods. Rick followed her."

"Should we go out after them? Try to help," Bella asked. Shane looked at her. "No, it'd be better if everyone stays here. No point losing anyone else. Rick can protect her. They'll be back soon."

"Are you sure we shouldn't…" Bella started to protest. "I said we should stay here. That's it. We'll just wait. Got it," Shane said, staring her down. Bella nodded meekly before turning to Daryl.

"Are you ok," Bella asked, noticing some fresh blood on his vest. Daryl nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. But T-Dog's got a nasty scrape on his arm. It looked pretty bad."

Bella walked to T-Dog. "Mind if I look at your arm?" T-Dog hesitated, holding onto the wound firmly. "I'm first-aid and CPR certified if that helps."

"It's not that I don't trust you, Bella. It's just bleedin' real bad. I'm not sure I can let go without losing a whole lot more." Bella looked around quickly before she got an idea. She ripped the bottom half of her t-shirt off in one long strip. Then, she tied it tightly around T-Dog's arm, right above the wound to try to slow the bleeding. She ripped more off so that it was barely covering her upper torso. She called out, "Andrea? Can you grab me some of that water that Shane found? Quickly." She left to grab some for her.

Bella explained. "Hopefully this will work. I tied the upper one right above. It should stop the bleeding, or at least slow it down, until we find a better tourniquet. After I rinse the wound a bit, I'll wrap this around it directly. I'll search the cars after that. One of them is bound to have a decent first aid kit. These people were running for their lives after all." T-Dog nodded, the pain and blood loss starting to go to his head. Andrea came back, and Bella rinsed the wound and dressed it as best she could. "You should probably not move around a lot right now. You've lost a lot of blood, and you'll probably lose more before I can find better supplies for you. Just wait here, ok?"

Bella turned around and moved through the cars, looking for a first aid kit that might have something to help. As she started looking through a minivan, she turned at the sound of her name. Shane stood behind her, too close for her comfort. Bella stuttered out, "He, hey Shane. What's up?"

Shane looked down, staring at her newly exposed skin before meeting her eyes. He moved closer to her, reaching out a hand to grab her waist when Rick called out from the woods. Bella immediately ran back to the group. Shane watched her go and took a deep breath before following.

Carol called out, "Where's Sophia? Where's my girl?"

Rick looked calm, but Bella could see the fear in his eyes. "We got separated, but I told her how to get back to the highway. The walkers are taken care of. Shane, Glenn, Daryl, why don't we go back and find her? She shouldn't be far. I need y'all to stay here in case she gets back here before we find her."

Carol had started to whimper again. Rick turned to her. "Everything will be ok, I promise." He turned to the men. "Let's go."

Bella watched the group leave before continuing her search for the first aid kit. She found some gauze and medical tape and hurried back to T-Dog. "Here I found something." She redressed his wound and stood up. T-Dog grabbed her outstretched hand and stood as well. "You should still rest a bit; blood loss is no joke."

T-Dog nodded. Giving her a side hug, he said, "Thanks, Bella," and walked over to the RV to rest in there.

Shane and Glenn came back out of the woods a few minutes later. Shane called out, "Daryl and Rick are following her trail now. He sent me and Glenn back to starting clearin' these cars for a path for the RV. We want to be able to move out as soon as they get back."

Everybody moved about, either helping with the cars or searching through more cars. Carol stood off to the side, staring into the woods, but no one had the heart to tell her to do something. After a path had been cleared, the group gather in front of the RV. Carol asked, "Why aren't we all out there looking? Why are we moving cars?

Dale answered, "Well, we have to clear enough room so I can get the RV turned around as soon as it's running. Now that we have enough fuel, we can double back to a bypass Glenn flagged on the map."

Shane said, "Doubling back's gonna be easier than tryin to drive through this mess."

"We're not going anywhere until my daughter gets back," Carol said.

Lori replied, "That goes without saying."

Shane also responded. "Rick and Daryl, they're on it. Just a matter of time."

Andrea walked up with Bella, water bottles in hand. Tossing one to Glenn, Andrea said, "It's not soon enough for me. I'm still freaked out from that herd that passed this way, or whatever you'd call it."

Glenn asked, "Yeah, what was that? All of them just marching along like that."

Bella said, "Herd sounds about right."

Shane agreed, "Now, we've seen it, the night the camp got attacked. Just a wandering pack, only fewer… Ok, come on people. We still got a lot to do. Let's stay on it." The group broke off again.

Bella saw Carl circle a truck a little ways up the road. As he was about to climb into the driver's side, Bella called out, "Whoa, man. Hold on there. What're you looking at?" Carl stopped and turned. "There's a bag in there. Looks like there's some weapons and stuff. I thought I could grab it and bring it to Shane." Bella looked in and saw the bag in question. She looked back at Carl. "I'll tell you what. Let me grab the bag, but you can bring it to Shane. We'll say you got it all on your own, ok?"

Carl seemed a little downtrodden. Bella said, "Hey, it's nothing on you. I know you could totally grab them. It's just a bit easier for me right now. Once you hit your growth spurt, I'll start asking for you to grab stuff for me. You're just not quite there yet." Carl nodded slowly. Bella quickly grabbed the bag and placed it in Carl's hands. He immediately ran over to Shane. Bella followed more slowly. She loved seeing Carl so excited, but she didn't want to get any closer to Shane then she had to.

"Shane. Shane," Carl cried out. Lori ran over. "Carl, what happened?" She looked up when she saw Bella approach and frowned.

"I found something cool," Carl continued as he spread the weapons out on the ground. "It's an arsenal." Shane didn't even look up when he said, "That's cool, bud. Go bring them to Dale."

Carl took one of them out. "Look at this one. Whoa! It's a hatchet." Lori said, "Be careful. Don't play with those." Carl continued to swing it around. "They're really sharp."

"What did I just say?"

Carl asked, "Can I keep one?"

Lori responded, "Are you crazy?"

Carl wouldn't let it go. "No way. Shane? Shane. Tell her to let me keep one. Bella? Come on." Bella was not about to get pulled into this family drama so she stayed quiet. Shane said, "Hey man, go give them all to Dale. Now, go." Carl gave him a look before walking off, giving the same one to Bella as he passed. She shrugged in response and watched him walk away with a huff. Shane soon followed.

As she was about to leave, Bella heard Lori call her. She walked over to her and asked, "What's up?" Seeing the look on Lori's face, Bella asked, "Is something wrong?"

Lori rolled her eyes. "Bella, can you give up the Snow White routine please? It's getting old and no one else is here to see it."

Bella looked confused. "What do you mean? Snow White routine?"

Lori huffed. "The whole, I'm perfect and nice and better than everyone and everyone loves me."

"I don't do…"

"Just stop it alright."

"Umm…ok. Was that it?"

Lori stepped closer to Bella, forcing her to back up slightly. "No, that's not it. I want you to stay away from him."

"Stay away from who? Carl?"

"No, not Carl. Shane. You're not good for him."

Bella was taken aback. "Excuse me?"

"You flounce around here like you own the place, barking orders, undermining me in front of Carl, you have Rick wrapped around your finger. You have no right to play with Shane's feelings like that."

Bella said, "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about Lori. I'm not playing with anybody's feelings."

Lori shook her head. "Shane told me about what happened at the CDC, how he came to you to talk, to try to get back together with you, and how you shut him down. And now you're walking around here wearing practically nothing. How do you think that makes him feel?"

Bella started to tear up as she met Lori's eyes. "That's not what happened. He, he tried to…" Bella's voice died out. She still couldn't say what happened out loud. "He is a grown man, Lori. I think he can take care of himself."

"Not when you rub your relationship with Daryl in his face like that. You two have been all over each other since we left camp. Not to mention Rick…"

"What about Rick?"

Lori growled, "Don't play dumb, Bella. I know that you two had something before this, and with you both showing up at the camp together, it honestly wouldn't surprise me if you had met up earlier and taken your own sweet time coming back."

"Lori you know that's not true. Rick and I never had anything happening between us. We told you that, we've been telling you that. Whatever you think happened, didn't."

"I saw you two together, Bella! Wrapped around each other without a care in the world. And in my own house, our house! You can deny it all you want but we both know what happened."

Bella had started to protest again, but Lori continued. "God, you both made me so angry. And then insisting that nothing had happened. I'm not stupid Bella. After a while though, I figured if Rick could do it, then I could too." Bella stared at Lori, waiting for her to explain. "One night, a week or two after I found you guys, I went out, got incredibly drunk, and slept with my husband's best friend, your boyfriend."

Bella's eyes grew wide. "You slept with Shane? But he never said anything."

"Yeah, well, after that first time, we realized we kinda liked it. So we decided to continue and not say anything about it. I was thinking about how Carl would react to something like that, and I decided that secrecy was better than any emotional trauma that could happen."

Bella had no words. Shane had been cheating on her pretty much the whole time they were together and she had had no idea. And Rick, what Lori did to Rick tore Bella's heart in ways she didn't quite understand. Tears started to fall down her face, but she quickly wiped them away. "How could you do that to Rick? He loves you."

Lori replied, "What he doesn't know won't hurt him."

"You can't expect me to keep this from him. He deserves to know." Shane stepped out from behind the car Bella was standing in front of.

He said, "That's exactly what we expect you to do." Shane walked towards Bella, eventually trapping her against the car. Bella stared up at him in fear as he said, "Or we'll have to find a way to keep you quiet." He traced his hands up and down the exposed skin of her torso, stopping just short of the edge of her shirt before stepping away and leaving with Lori trailing behind him.

Bella wrapped her arms around her waist and stared after them with sobs threatening to break her, wondering where she'd be if she had never gone into that department store.


	12. Author's Note

Hi everybody. First off, I want to apologize to you all for having to wait this long to hear from me. This past few months have been incredibly hard for me, this summer was one of the worst ones I've ever had. Beyond that, I've found it incredibly difficult to get back to these stories. This fandom wasn't one that I was ever completely invested in, at first it was just a lot of fun to write these stories and hear from all of you lovely people. I am putting these stories on hiatus indefinitely. They will remain active and available in the hopes that at some point in the future I will return to them, or at least give them a better conclusion. But for now, these stories will not be continued. I have a stories that I'm working on for shows that I have a much stronger connection to and I will start posting them soon. Thank you to all of the followers, favorites, readers, and reviewers who have spent their time reading my stories. I truly appreciate each and every one of you. I really do apologize for leaving you all hanging like this but at this point I felt that bad news was better than no news at all. Keep smiling everybody :)


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